Hospital Safety.pdf

National Disaster
Management Guidelines
Hospital Safety

National Disaster Management Guidelines—Hospital Safety
A publication of:
National Disaster Management Authority
Government of India
NDMA Bhawan
A-1, Safdarjung Enclave
New Delhi – 110 029
ISBN : 978-93-84792-03-9 978-93-80440-13-2
February, 2016
When citing these guidelines the following citation should be used:
National Disaster Management Guidelines: Hospital Safety. A publication of the
National Disaster Management Authority, Government of India.
ISBN: 978-93-84792-03-9 978-93-80440-13-2
The National Disaster Management Guidelines on Hospital Safety are formulated by NDMA, in
consultation with various stakeholders, academic experts, subject specialists from across the
country and officials from concerned Ministries and Departments of Government of India.

National Disaster
Management Guidelines
Hospital Safety
Government of India

Hospital Safety vii
Executive Summary v
Introduction 1
1.1 Hospitals and Disasters 1
1.2 Expected Disaster Scenarios for Hospitals 3
1.3 Safe Hospitals 3
About the Guidelines 5
2.1 Vision 5
2.2 Objective of the Guidelines 5
2.3 Scope of the Guidelines 5
2.4 Institutional Mechanisms 6
2.5 Implementation of the Guidelines 6
Awareness Generation for Hospital Safety 7
3.1 Scope 7
3.2 Communication Goals 7
3.3 Stakeholders/Target Group 8
3.4 Key Elements of Awareness Generation for Hospital Safety 8
3.5 Awareness Generation Exercises 10
Hospital Disaster Preparedness and Response 11
4.1 Scope 11
4.2 Coordination Management 12
4.3 Planning, Training and Drills 13
4.4 Information, Communication and Documentation 15
Contents

National Disaster Management Guidelines : Hospital Safety
Hospital Safety
viii
4.5 Safety and Security 18
4.6 Human Resources 19
4.7 Logistics, Supply and Finance Management 20
4.8 Continuity of Essential Support Services 21
4.9 Triage 23
4.10 Surge Capacity for Medical Response 24
4.11 Post-Disaster Recovery 26
4.12 Patient Handling 26
4.13 Volunteer Involvement and Management 27
4.14 Area Level Networking of Hospitals 28
4.15 Coordination and Collaboration with Wider Disaster Preparedness Initiatives 28
4.16 Hospital Disaster Management Plan with respect to CBRN Emergencies: 29
Design and Safety of Hospital Buildings 31
5.1 Scope 31
5.2 EXPECTED PERFORMANCE OF HOSPITALS 33
5.3 Design Standards 35
5.4 Structural Elements 35
5.5 Non-Structural Elements 42
5.6 Enabling Environment Towards Ensuring Hospital Safety 52
5.7 Miscellaneous 54
5.8 Capacity Building 54
Fire Safety in Hospitals 57
6.1. Scope 57
6.2 Expected Levels Of Fire Safety In Hospitals 57
6.3 Structural Elements of Fire Safety 58
6.4 Non-Structural Elements of Fire Safety 68

Hospital Safety ix
Contents
Maintenance and Inspection for Safe Hospitals 71
7.1 Maintenance and Inspection 71
7.2 Maintenance of Occupational and Functional Components 72
7.3 The Maintenance Policy Plan 73
7.4 Maintenance of Structural Systems 73
7.5 Inspection of Structural Components 74
7.6 Inspection of Occupational and Functional Components 74
Licensing and Accreditation 77
8.1 Scope 77
8.2 Important Definitions 77
8.3 Licensing Requirements 79
8.4 Accreditation Requirements 81
National Action Framework for Hospital Safety 85
9.1 Scope 85
9.2 Priority Areas and Outcomes 85
Annexures
Annexures – 1 101
Annexures – 2 104
Annexures – 3 107
Annexures – 4 110
Annexures – 5 112
Annexures – 6 114
Annexures – 7 115

Hospital Safety xi
The guidelines on Hospital Safety have been developed with the vision that all hospitals in India will be
structurally and functionally safer from disasters, such that the risks to human life and infrastructure
are minimized.
The overall aim of the guidelines is to mainstream disaster prevention, mitigation, preparedness and
response activities into the health sector in our country, with specific focus on hospitals; such that
hospitals are not just better prepared but fully functional immediately after disasters and are able to
respond without any delay to the medical requirements of the affected community.
The first chapter introduces the need and importance of hospital safety and risk resilience in today’s
times.
The second chapter focuses upon the key objectives of the said guidelines as mentioned below:
(1) To address hospital safety through a multi-hazard and inter-disciplinary approach;
(2) To ensure structural safety of hospitals (especially of critical facilities);
(3) To ensure that all professionals involved in the day to day operation of hospitals are
prepared to respond to disasters; and,
(4) To ensure that every hospital in the country has a fully functional and regularly tested
Hospital Disaster Management Plan
The third chapter deals with awareness generation activities for hospital safety with an aim to sensitize
the key stakeholders and community on the need for disaster management in health facilities and to
achieve the overall aim of protecting the lives of patients and health workers by ensuring the structural
resilience of health facilities as well as improving the risk reduction capacity of health workers and
institutions.
The fourth chapter on hospital preparedness and response focuses upon provisions required to be put
in place to ensure functional safety of hospitals/health facilities in disaster situations. The provisions
laid down are the minimum required standards that shall be adhered to by all healthcare facilities; and
address both internal and external disasters that are likely to affect hospitals. The chapter lays stress
upon the key objective of disaster preparedness and response for hospitals/healthcare institutions
which is to ensure that they can remain functional and continue providing the necessary health care
services during and immediately after an emergency.
Executive Summary

The fifth and sixth chapter focus upon the structural and design safety elements as well as fire
safety pertaining to hospital. The seventh chapter throws light on the elements pertaining to regular
maintenance and inspection for hospitals. The eight chapter provides an overview of the standard
Licensing and Accreditation requirements that shall be followed by hospitals to ensure disaster
preparedness. Conscious efforts need to be made to achieve the goal of ‘safer and functional hospitals’
in the country at the earliest; and towards this end, the ninth chapter lays down the ‘National Action
Framework for Hospital Safety’, as a focused strategy which should be followed to achieve this goal.
This guideline has been formulated to ensure that when implemented at all levels, the risks to human
life and infrastructure are minimised; and hospitals are not only better prepared but are optimally
functional immediately after disastrous events, such that they are able to respond immediately to the
medical requirements of the affected community.
It is strongly recommended that the interventions suggested in this guideline are approached and
implemented in a systematic and time bound manner, since disastrous events can happen anytime,
anywhere and at any scale.

Hospital Safety 1
1.1 Hospitals and Disasters
Disasters have an uncanny ability to bring to the forefront vulnerabilities of systems, structures,
processes and people which in turn cause large scale damages; and hospitals are no exception
to this rule.
In India, experiences from the Gujarat earthquake of 2001, the Indian Ocean Tsunami of 2004
and the Kashmir Earthquake of 2005 have shown that disasters affect not only the population
but also health facilities. Particularly when the Children’s Hospital in Jammu collapsed; in the
city of Bhuj, where thousands of people died and the civil hospital was reduced to a heap of
debris when it was needed the most. The fire in AMRI Hospital in Kolkata, where more than
90 people died, reminded us that it is not simply the structural resilience but also operational
resilience of hospitals that needs to be addressed, if we wish to reduce the impact of disasters
on hospitals.
Both these instances of the civil hospital collapsing in Bhuj and the fire in AMRI Hospital in
Kolkata, provided evidence based lessons of the underlying vulnerabilities that cause hospitals
to get affected by disasters, which may be broadly grouped as follows:
• Inadequate or non- compliance of structural elements of hospitals to building codes
and other safety norms which result in the failure of hospital structures and their
component non-structural elements;
• Absence of an operational Hospital Disaster Management Plan;
• Lack of planning and preparedness to respond to disasters;
• Inadequate or complete lack of internal and external communication; and
• Lack of networking amongst hospitals.
As a result, when hospitals are affected by disasters, the repercussions are three dimensional
– health, social and economic.
Introduction
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Hospital Safety
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The health impact of hospitals being affected by disasters include, other than the very obvious
lapses in medical care being provided to victims of a disaster, lapses in preventive medicine
and public health response. This is because hospitals host laboratories and can contribute to
the diagnoses and issuance of warnings of imminent communicable diseases that may spread
post a disaster.
The social impact of hospitals being affected by disasters includes a loss of confidence/morale
in the affected community which can affect the long-term recovery and sense of well-being of
the community. The economic impact of hospitals being affected by disasters is a little more
obvious, given the enormous investments required to be made to construct hospitals and the
expensive equipment that is lost when disasters strike hospitals. Even the use of temporary
field hospitals as a contingency measure is economically unviable. It is an attested fact that the
costs involved to mitigate and prepare hospitals for disasters are far less than those required
for re-building hospitals after they have been damaged by disasters.
Link 1: Excerpts from the National Policy on Disaster Management 2009 on Medical
Preparedness and Mass Casualty Management (page 20 – Chapter 5 – Disaster Prevention,
Mitigation and Preparedness)
5.2.8 Medical preparedness is a crucial component of any DM Plan. The NDMA, in close
coordination with the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, States and premier medical
research institutes will formulate policy guidelines to enhance capacity in emergency medical
response and mass casualty management. DM plans for hospitals will include developing
and training of medical teams and paramedics, capacity building, trauma and psychosocial
care, mass casualty management and triage. The surge and casualty handling capacity of all
hospitals at the time of disasters, will be worked out and recorded through a consultative
process, by all the States/UTs in the pre- disaster phase.....
Link 2: Hospital Disaster Preparedness: (Excerpts from National Disaster Management
Guidelines on Medical Preparedness and Mass Casualty Management)
Hospitalsareanimportantunitforthemanagementofmasscasualties.Hospitalpreparedness
in the pre- disaster phase enhances the effectiveness of their coordinated response during
disaster situations. In India, there are different hospitals under different administrative
setups. The availability and quality of medical facilities differ drastically from urban to rural
and from private to governmental hospitals. Thus, preparedness calls for hospital disaster
management planning at the hospital level, its development and up-gradation, planning at
district /state level and overall regional plans for effective management.

Introduction
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Hospital Safety
1.2 Expected Disaster Scenarios for Hospitals
Hospitals may face both internal and external disasters. The impact of internal disasters such
as fire, exposure to hazardous material, utility failures, etc., is typically limited to the hospital/
healthcare facility while external disasters include scenarios such as earthquakes, mass casualty
events or epidemics where the hospital itself may or may not be affected but is a critical part
of the larger response. As such three scenarios can be expected when disasters strike. They
are as follows:
(1) Community Affected – Hospital Unaffected: During such scenarios, hospitals play a vital
role in the larger disaster response being undertaken. For hospitals such scenarios would
implyasuddenincreaseindemandbecauseofthesurgeinthenumberofpatientsseeking
medical attention. There is a possibility of the hospital facility getting overwhelmed if
adequate preparedness and response mechanisms are not swung into action as soon
as the disaster occurs.
(2) Community Unaffected – Hospital Affected: Such scenarios arise from the internal crises/
emergencies of hospitals. As such, partial or complete evacuation and transfer of critical
patients to networked hospitals is the key to successful response. Such scenarios also
demand a high degree of preparedness on the side of the hospital administration and
staff, as well as a speedy response from the surrounding community and hospitals.
(3) CommunityAffected–HospitalAffected:Suchsituationsexacerbatethechallengesposed
to hospitals, as they not only need to cater to the existing demand on their facilities but
also need to address the sudden increase in demand on their facilities because of the
surrounding community being affected by disasters. In such situations the hospitals may
even find themselves facing the added challenges of loss of essential services, like water
supply, electricity, medical gases, etc. and a reduction in man-hours per patient.
Hence, the only rational manner in which hospitals can be prepared for disasters is by
increasing their resilience and reducing their vulnerability; by strengthening both structural and
operational aspects of the hospital, such that they achieve a reasonable degree of safety.
1.3 Safe Hospitals
The Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) and the World Health Organisation (WHO) have
defined: “a Safe Hospital as one that:
• will not collapse in disasters, killing patients and staff;
• can continue to function and provide its services as a critical community facility
when it is most needed; and,

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• is organised, with contingency plans in place and health workforce trained to keep
the network operational.”
The concept of safe hospitals does not merely refer to the physical and functional integrity of
health facilities but also the preparation to function at full capacity and cater to the needs of
the affected community immediately after disaster strikes.
Thus, making hospitals safe involves understanding and mitigating factors that contribute
to their vulnerability during an emergency or disaster such as the building’s location, design
specifications and materials used, damage due to non-structural elements, untrained
professionals and lack of basic understanding of disaster management. Critical services such
as electricity, water and sanitation, waste treatment and disposal of medical wastes are
important to ensure continuity of operations during an emergency situation. The importance
of hospitals and all types of health facilities extend beyond the direct life-saving role they play.
Therefore, special attention must be given to ensure that hospitals are structurally safe and
health professionals are sensitized, oriented and trained to handle emergency conditions.

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Hospital Safety
2.1 Vision
The guidelines on Hospital Safety have been developed with the vision that all hospitals in
India will be structurally and functionally safer from disasters, such that the risks to human
life and infrastructure are minimized.
Theoverall aim of theguidelines is to mainstream disasterprevention,mitigation,preparedness
and response activities into the health sector in our country, with specific focus on hospitals;
such that hospitals are not just better prepared but fully functional immediately after disasters
and are able to respond without any delay to the medical requirements of the affected
community.
2.2 Objective of the Guidelines
The key objectives of the guidelines are:
(1) To address hospital safety through a multi-hazard and inter-disciplinary
approach;
(2) To ensure structural safety of hospitals (especially of critical facilities);
(3) To ensure that all professionals involved in the day to day operation of hospitals
are prepared to respond to disasters; and,
(4) To ensure that every hospital in the country has a fully functional and regularly
tested Hospital Disaster Management Plan.
2.3 Scope of the Guidelines
Health Care in India is categorized into three categories – primary, secondary and tertiary,
whereby Sub-Centres and Primary Health Centres (PHCs) fall under the primary level,
Community Health Centres (CHCs), Sub-District/ Sub-Divisional Hospitals and District Hospitals
About the Guidelines
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Hospital Safety
fall under the secondary level and Multi-Super Specialty Care Hospitals fall under the Tertiary
level. The provisions laid down in this guideline shall be applicable to all healthcare facilities in
the government sector and their equivalent counterparts in the private sector. Smaller facilities
may choose to adapt relevant sections of the guidelines to address disaster management
concerns as per their context and local conditions.
2.4 Institutional Mechanisms
Both Health and Disaster Management being state subjects, it implies that the respective state
health departments and state disaster management authorities, along with the state public
works department, will play a crucial role in implementing these guidelines on the ground.
However, the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, the Central Public Works Department
and other licensing agencies at the Central or State levels will also undertake the necessary
actions to implement these guidelines for effective compliance.
Wherever necessary, the National Disaster Management Authority, the Bureau of Indian
Standards, technical institutions like IITs and other relevant agencies shall extend their support
to further the agenda of Hospital Safety in our country.
2.5 Implementation of the Guidelines
Some of the provisions for hospital safety that have been detailed in these guidelines can be
undertaken with immediate effect, while some others may require a considerable amount of
timeforpolicydecisions,preparationandimplementation.Hencetoaddresstheimplementation
of Hospital Safety activities in the country, a detailed National Action Framework has been
developed as a part of these guidelines which outlines short term (1 to 5 years), medium term
(5 to 10 years) and long term (more than 10 but within 20 years) goals for implementation.

Hospital Safety 7
3.1 Scope
The first step towards making hospitals safe is to create awareness among various stakeholders
about the need to have safe hospitals, what it entails and actions that can be undertaken.
Allawarenessgenerationactivitiesforhospitalsafetyshallaimatsensitizingthekeystakeholders
and community on the need for disaster management in health facilities and to achieve the
overall aim of protecting the lives of patients and health workers by ensuring the structural
resilience of health facilities as well as improving the risk reduction capacity of health workers
and institutions.
The key objectives of awareness generation activities for Hospital Safety shall be:
(1) Spreading awareness on protecting critical health facilities from disasters by
including risk reduction in the design and construction of all new health facilities,
and by reducing vulnerability in existing health facilities through structural and
non-structural measures.
(2) Sensitizing the health workforce in hospitals as they are central to identifying
potential health risks from natural hazards.
This Chapter shall focus on the approach that needs to be taken for awareness generation
activities to create an environment in which all relevant stakeholders are well aware of and
readily support the various actions that need to be taken to make hospitals safe.
3.2 Communication Goals
The key goals of all awareness generation activities shall be:
(1) To create an enabling environment and momentum to generate strong interest in
hospital safety
(2) Inform the health institutions and its workforce about emergency management,
dos and don’ts and linkages between disaster management and hospital safety
Awareness Generation for
Hospital Safety
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Hospital Safety
(3) Raise awareness that health facilities should be prepared to deal with emergencies
that arise due to disasters both natural and human induced.
3.3 Stakeholders/Target Group
The primary, secondary and tertiary target groups identified for awareness generation on
hospital safety are as mentioned below:
3.3.1 Primary Target Group
(1) Hospital Staff/Administration
(2) Doctors/Nurses/Paramedical staff as they provide support towards critical services
in hospitals
(3) Policy makers, as they are responsible for taking key decisions and can bring about
necessary interventions required for hospital safety
3.3.2 Secondary Target Group
(1) Students, studyingin medical/public health colleges as theycan beeffectivechange
agents. If they are aware, they can implement those learning’s to make health
facilities safer
(2) Architects, engineers and masons to ensure safe structures (hazard resistant
construction with respect to health facilities)
(3) Media professionals, media plays a critical role in influencing community as well
as policy makers.
(4) Financial institutions such as banks and other lending agencies that can finance
the construction, reconstruction or retrofitting of health facilities
3.3.3 Tertiary Target Group
(1) Community members are the beneficiaries. It is the community that gets first
affected during disasters and they need a safe place where they can be treated
and provided with other health facilities. Also, community members play a crucial
role of first responders during any disaster.
3.4 Key Elements of Awareness Generation for Hospital Safety
An awareness programme on Hospital Safety shall aim at providing the basic information and
creatingtheenablingenvironmentsothatthelevelofacceptanceforhospitalsafetyisincreased
among the target group and an interest to know more is generated. The awareness strategy

Awareness Generation for Hospital Safety
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Hospital Safety
for hospital safety shall follow a top down approach, as the major decisions such as ensuring
structural safety through retrofitting of hospitals, non-structural safety, taking steps to sensitize
employees in various aspects of hospital safety are taken by the top management of hospitals.
The strategy shall be developed using multiple modes of communication and adopting a multi-
hazard approach. Involvement of all modes of communication such as electronic, print, IEC
materials, audio-visuals on disasters, dos and don’ts, standard operating procedures (SOPs)
shall be required to reach all segments of the target audience.
While developing messages for an awareness campaign on Hospital Safety, the following
elements shall be covered:
• There are many factors that put hospitals and health facilities at risk. These include –
buildings, their location and design specifications, patients – who are highly vulnerable
and during emergencies, the number of patients as well as their vulnerability increases.
Other than these, damage to hospital equipments and lack of basic lifeline services adds
to the risk.
• Components of a hospital or health facility are typically divided into two categories.
These are structural (design of buildings, resilience of material used etc.) and non-
structural (mechanical equipments, storage, shelves etc.) that determine the overall
safety of the health facilities.
• Functional collapse, not structural damage, is the usual reason for hospitals being
put out of service during emergencies. Elements that allow a hospital to operate on a
day-to-day basis are unable to perform during emergency. These include labs, operating
theatres, medical records, medical services, administrative process etc.
• Makingnewhospitalsandhealthfacilitiessaferfromdisastersisnotcostly.Incorporating
mitigation measures into the design and construction of new hospitals accounts for less
than 4 percent of the total investment.
• Makeshift/Temporary/Field hospitals are not necessarily the best solution to
compensate for the loss of a hospital or health facility, as these are not cost effective
• Seeking the right technical expertise to ensure that norms and building standards are
in place.
• Creating safe hospitals is as much about having vision and commitment as it is about
actual resources The responsibility of creating safe hospitals must be shared among
many sectors: planning, finance, public works, urban and land-use planning, together
with the health sector.

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3.5 Awareness Generation Exercises
For hospitals to be safe, awareness on disasters and its prevention is must. Information for
preparedness, mitigation and response shall be disseminated through various communication
modes packaged for different stakeholder groups. It shall be designed to address the specific
vulnerabilities of the area. Basic awareness and sensitization of the hospital staff consisting of
managerial and administrative staff besides doctors, nurses, para-medical staff is the primary
need for hospital safety.
Awareness generation on first aid, search rescue, trauma counselling, emergency exit
routes, fire safety, relevance of disaster management plans, handling emergencies, sanitation,
and safe construction are important for building a culture of safety in hospitals and it can be
directlytaken up bythehospital administration. Sensitization events,consultation/conferences,
mass media campaigns, public advertisements/messages shall be used to reach out to the
target audience. Special messages on radio, television and print media including journals for
doctors, health magazines may also be effective. Case studies documenting the examples
of other countries/states should be prepared and disseminated for creating greater public
awareness among professionals and related stakeholders. Awareness material such as signage,
hoardings, boards displayed in the health institutions such as hospitals (govt. and private),
local dispensaries, primary health centres, advertisements on ambulances etc. shall play an
important role in sensitisation and public awareness on the important issue of hospital safety
and risk management.
Education and Sensitization of medical professionals is the basic premise for risk reduction
in hospitals and other health facilities. This includes understanding disasters, its causes and
impacts, various phases of disasters and what actions are required to be taken and the critical
role that doctors play in the aftermath of disasters. Disaster Management especially with focus
on hospital safety and its various aspects need to be mainstreamed in the course curriculum
of medical and paramedical students.
Annexure 1 (Table 3.1 – Page 93) lists the Key communication approaches and specific activities
that can be used to reach out to key stakeholders.

Hospital Safety 11
4.1 Scope
This chapter focuses upon provisions required to be put in place to ensure functional safety of
hospitals/health facilities in disaster situations. The provisions stated herein are the minimum
required standards that shall be adhered to by all healthcare facilities; and address both internal
and external disasters that are likely to affect hospitals.
The prime objective of disaster preparedness and response for hospitals/healthcare institutions
is to ensure that they can remain functional and continue providing the necessary health care
services during and immediately after an emergency. To fulfill this objective, initiatives need
to be taken with regard to:
(1) Coordination Management
(2) Planning, Training and Drills
(3) Information and Communication
(4) Safety and Security
(5) Human Resources
(6) Logistics, Supply and Finance Management
(7) Continuity of Essential Services
(8) Triage
(9) Surge Capacity for Medical Response
(10) Post-disaster Recovery
(11) Patient Handling
(12) Volunteer Involvement and Management
(13) Area Level Networking of Hospitals
(14) Coordination and Collaboration with Wider Disaster Preparedness Initiatives
Hospital Disaster Preparedness
and Response
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EachhospitalshallhaveitsownHospitalDisasterManagementCommittee(HDMC)responsible
for developing a Hospital Disaster Management Plan (HDMP). Members of this committee
shall be trained to institute and implement the Hospital Incident Response System (HIRS) – for
both internal and external disasters.
4.2 Coordination Management
To enable effective preparedness and response during disasters, an efficiently functioning
HIRS (Hospital Incident Response System) shall be established in each hospital. The HIRS shall
be ingrained into practice, updated/revised and tested through repeated tabletop exercises
drills. The overall objective of the HIRS structure shall be to enable the development of
strategies,managementofresources,planningandimplementationofoperationsinemergency
situations.
All hospitals shall have a HIRS manual detailing but not limited to the:
(1) Command Structure: The HIRS Tree stating the positions and hierarchy with Job
action sheets
(2) Modular Organization: The emergency response structure shall be flexible so
that it can be expanded, and contracted depending on the type and size of the
incident.
(3) Consolidated Action Plans: of all the participating departments involved in
developing the overall incident objectives, selection of strategies, planning and
performance of tactical activities.
(4) Manageable Span of Control: The responsibility of each individual supervisor shall
be limited. The span of control will be from three to five persons, depending on
the type of incident, the nature of the response, the skill of the employee and the
distance involved.
(5) Comprehensive Resource Management: Stating clearly the expected resources
needed in a disaster their location in the unit/department.
To ensure effective Coordination and Management every hospital shall:
i. Establish an HIRS system to oversee operations, planning, logistics and finance/
administration required for disaster preparedness and response
ii. Define the functions of the HIRS System
iii. Define the roles and responsibilities of each member of the HIRS and other critical
hospital staff

Hospital Disaster Preparedness and Response
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Hospital Safety
iv. Develop job action sheets that briefly list the essential qualifications, duties and
resources required for HIRS members, hospital managers and staff for disaster
-response activities
v. Train all hospital staff and community members (including HIRS members) on the
structure and functions of the HIRS system so that each one is aware of their role
within the HIRS
vi. Designate a hospital management and coordination center
vii. Develop SOPs/strategies to implement the HIRS system
viii. Implement the HIRS action plan
4.3 Planning, Training and Drills
(a) Planning
The planning process shall broadly involve:
1. Formation of a sub-team (within the HDMC) who shall draft the plan.
2. Development of the plan and sub-plans; guidelines, standard operating procedures
etc.
3. Allocation of resources to execute the plans; and
4. Defining and allocating roles/responsibilities to be performed by hospital staff in
the event of activation of the plan.
The main objective of the Hospital Disaster Management Plan shall be to optimally prepare
the staff, institutional resources and structures of the hospital for effective performance in
different disaster situations. The HDMP shall be a written document and copies of the same
shall be made available to all staff in the hospital. It shall have comprehensive actionable
plans for disaster Preparedness, Response and Recovery corresponding to the Pre Disaster
Phase, Disaster Phase and Post Disaster Phase respectively. All hospitals shall have an HDMP
detailing but not limited to:
(1) Hazard Vulnerability Analysis (HVA) for the hospital/health facility
(2) Hospital Incident Response System
(3) Individual Roles and Responsibilities
(4) Hospital Capacity and Capability Analysis
(5) Hospital-Community Coordination, and
(6) Hospital Command Centre

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Hospital Safety
Adequate resource allocations shall be ensured for smooth implementation of the HDMP.
(Note: Most of the assessment, drafting, discussion and approval of the HDMP shall be done in the pre disaster
phase.)
(b) Training
AllhospitalstaffshallberegularlyorientedtotheHospitalDisasterManagementPlan(especially
each time the plan is updated or modified). Hospital staff who will implement the HDMP shall
be trained every alternate month.
All HIRS position holders (including their 2nd and 3rd line back-ups) shall learn the SOPs and
Job Action Sheets (JASs). They shall be trained as Master Trainers with a clear understanding
of the training outcomes in terms of examinations. Practice evaluations shall be documented
for inspection.
Specialized need-based trainings to perform specific functions during the disaster shall be
planned and executed for different categories of staff of the hospital. The training will follow
the matrix of skills appended in Annexure 2, 3 and 4.
Regular Training and capacity building provision shall be made to enhance the staff capacity
and competency in providing critical clinical services during emergencies.
(c) Drills
Everyhospital/healthcarefacilityshallconductperiodicdrillsandrehearsalstotesttheresponse
capabilitiestoemergenciesinrealtimewhichwillserveasopportunitiesforpracticallearningfor
the hospital staff.There are several types of hospital drills which include computer simulations,
tabletop exercises and operationalized drills involving specific emergency scenarios.
(1) Table Top Exercises
A Table Top Exercise is a paper drill intended to demonstrate the working and communication
relationships of functions found within the disaster management organizational plan and HIRS.
The exercise is intended primarily for the administrators, managers and personnel who could
conceivably be placed into an officer's position upon activation of the disaster management
plan. All hospitals shall carry out a table top exercise every quarter, with the full HIRS team.
Proceedings of the exercise shall be documented for inspection.
(2) Partial evacuation/Non-evacuation Drills Mass Casualty Incident (MCI) Response
Drills
Hospital evacuation may become a necessity if the hospital itself is damaged in a disaster. Such
situations need to be foreseen and proper planning has to go into how to evacuate and which

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areas of the hospitals need to be evacuated first in case of an internal disaster. All hospitals
shall do an ICU evacuation drill ward evacuation drill once a year.
The function of MCI drill is to check the resilience of the system in terms of capacity capability
when faced with an extraordinary surge of patients in the Emergency Room after an external
disaster. All hospitals shall carry out a MCI drill once a year.
All drills shall be evaluated by third party evaluators using a validated drill evaluation tool
documented. The learning from the hot wash after the drill shall be documented for inspection
and the HDMP shall be revised accordingly within 7 working days of completion of the drill.
To ensure proper planning, training and drills, every hospital shall:
i. Ensure that a Hazard- Vulnerability Assessment (HVA) of the hospital and a hospital
capability analysis precede the development of the Hospital Disaster Management
Plan
ii. Meticulously plan for each of the critical functions of hospital disaster preparedness
and response
iii. Develop standards/protocols/guidelines for all aspects of hospital disaster
preparedness and response
iv. Allocate adequate resources for the smooth execution of the Hospital Disaster
Management Plan
v. Regularly conduct trainings for the hospital staff involved in hospital disaster
preparedness and response
vi. Test the Hospital Disaster Management Plan by undertaking simulation exercises
vii. Conduct periodic Disaster Drills/exercises to improve the disaster preparedness
and the response capability of the hospital
viii. Regularly update and revise the Hospital Disaster Management Plan to meet the
changing and emerging scenarios.
4.4 Information, Communication and Documentation
(a) Information and Communication
TheHDMCshallensureclear,accurateandtimelycommunicationandinformationmanagement
(both internal and external) to ensure informed decision-making, effective collaboration and
cooperation, and public awareness through the use of common terminologies, integrated
communication and an efficient system of alert. These are clearly delineated in the HIRS

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Hospital Safety
guidelines and shall be followed. A Public Information Services/Media Cell shall also be
established.
The HIRS center shall communicate with the District Incident Response System other key
stakeholders like Police, Fire Services, DDMA/SDMA as well as other healthcare facilities
managing patients in the same catchment area by establishing a regular channel of
communication with them to manage the disaster more efficiently.
In case of a biological / epidemic emergency, the same shall be reported to the highest health
authorities at the earliest. Hospitals shall also report to appropriate agencies such as their
respective police departments, fire departments, DDMA, SDMA and NDMA.
(b) Documentation
All Medico-Legal Cases shall be recorded properly. However, the treatment of patients will
get priority over paperwork. To meet the surge of cases, additional medical records assistant/
technician shall be posted from the Medical records section. Computerised documentation
(or manual) will be beneficial for the staff, police, next of kin and the press. Details of the
casualties received and being admitted, their clinical condition, along with colour coordinated
classification status by Triage shall be documented, for a credible database, for efficient retrieval
of information to cater to any post-incident treatment/medico-legal/financial issues arising
at a later date.
To ensure effective information dissemination and a robust communication system every
hospital/healthcare facility shall:
i. Appoint/ designate a public information spokesperson to coordinate hospital
communication with the public, the media and the health authorities
ii. Establish an Information desk to provide the requisite information at regular
intervals and to serve as a hub for volunteer mobilization and management. The
list of casualties along with their status shall be displayed at a prominent place
outside the casualty / emergency ward, in both English and the local language,
which shall be periodically updated.
iii. Develop a robust communication protocol, including streamlined mechanisms for
information exchange between hospital administration, department heads and
facility staff
iv. Brief hospital staff about their roles and responsibilities during crisis situations
v. Establish mechanisms for timely information management and reporting to

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Hospital Safety
supervisory and other relevant stakeholders (neighboring hospitals, private
practitioners and pre-hospital networks etc.)
vi. Ensure availability of reliable and suitable primary and back-up communication
system( installation of suitable equipments depending upon the size, location and
critical units in the hospital which will get activated in times of emergency; select
staff to be trained on the usage of such equipments)
vii. Draft key messages for communicating effectively to the stakeholders (patient,
staff, public etc.) in preparation for the most likely disaster scenarios
viii. Maintain a database containing the contact information of all the hospital staff
and other relevant stakeholders update it periodically
Planning for communications (within and outside the hospital):
Communications is one of the main problems in major emergencies and disasters.
Information transfer has to be reduced to most important facts only. Multiple means
of communications should be planned to communicate with hospital staffs and
administrator.
The currently available communication networks which should be looked into for availability
in the hospital are;
_ internal telephone exchange (for the hospital)
_ landline phones
_ private mobile/cellular phones
_ mobile/cellular phones in closed user group (CUG) for hospital staffs only provided by
the hospital
_ Loudspeakers/ public address system
_ Wireless sets for security and ambulance personnel
_ The communications room
An area should be identified as communication room within the hospital and all internal and
external communications must be made from here. This communication room should be in
continuous contact with the command centre/control room.
All important numbers of hospital personnel, police, district functionaries of administration
other nearby hospitals etc. should be clearly mentioned in the HDMP and a copy of this Plan
should also be present in the communication room/ telephone exchange. Excerpts from
Guidelines on Hospital Preparedness and Planning – GOI – UNDP - 2008

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Hospital Safety
4.5 Safety and Security
Each hospital shall have Safety and Security Management protocols to describe the processes
designed to eliminate or reduce, to the extent possible, hazards in the physical environment
and to manage staff activities, to reduce the risk of injuries to individuals and loss of
properties. Safety and Security management protocols shall be applicable to all personnel,
physicians, departments and properties. The Safety and Security Management activities shall
be coordinated by the Hospital Disaster Management Committee (HDMC) in association with
all concerned stakeholders, internal and external.
To ensure adequate security and safety, every hospital/healthcare facility shall:
i. Appoint a hospital security team responsible for all hospital safety and security
activities
ii. Prioritize security needs of the hospital and identify areas where increased
vulnerability is anticipated
iii. Ensure early control of facility access points, triage, and other areas of patient
flow
iv. Establish reliable modes of identifying authorized hospital personnel, patients,
patients’ attendants and visitors
v. Establish mechanisms to escort medical personnel related to disaster relief to the
patient care areas when needed
vi. Define security measures required for safe and efficient hospital evacuation
vii. Define the rules for engagement in crowd control
viii. Solicit inputs from the hospital security team to identify potential safety and
securitychallengesandconstraints,includinggapsinthemanagementofhazardous
materials
ix. Solicit inputs from the hospital infection control committee regarding challenges
and constraints in prevention and control of hospital infection
x. Implement procedures to ensure the secure collection, storage and reporting of
confidential information
xi. Define the threshold and procedures for involving local law enforcement
xii. Establish an area for radioactive, biological and chemical decontamination and
isolation

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Hospital Safety
4.6 Human Resources
All hospital personnel shall be adequately prepared for emergencies and disasters. All hospitals
shall develop and implement a human resource management policy for the hospital for disaster
situationsto ensureadequatestaff capacityand thecontinuityofoperationsduringanyincident
that increases the demand for human resources.
All Hospital employees shall be classified as Essential or Non-essential as defined below:
(1) Essential (E): Employees whose job function is essential to clinical services or
operations during times of a natural or man-made disaster.
(2) Non-Essential (N): Employees whose presence is not essential during a declared
disaster event, but cannot leave until released by their supervisor and must return
to work as usual under routine operations after the disaster has been declared
over.
To effectively manage human resources every hospital/healthcare facility shall:
1. Establish and implement a human resource management policy for disaster
situations
2. Identify minimum needs in terms of health-care workers and other hospital staff to
ensure the operational sufficiency of the hospital/department in emergencies
3. Establish a contingency plan for provision of food, water and living space for hospital
personnel during disasters
4. Prioritize staffing requirements and resultant deployment
5. Recruit and train additional staff according to the anticipated need
6. Establish a clear policy to address the needs of ill or injured family members or
dependants of staff
7. Ensure adequate staff capacity and competency in providing high demand clinical
response services during emergencies by providing training and exercises
8. Ensure adequate shifts and rotation and self care of clinical staff as well as domestic
support measures to support staff to work for long hours
9. Ensure adequate capacity of the local community to facilitate hospital services during
emergencies
10. Ensure adequate measures to deal with psychosocial and mental health issues of
hospital staff and their families

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Hospital Safety
11. Establish an administrative mechanism for issuing authorization and rapid induction to
medical personnel who are not on the regular rolls to work in the hospital for enabling
capacity surges
12. Ensure that the personnel dealing with contagious diseases are provided with
appropriate Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) and interventions (eg. Vaccination)
in accordance with the policy and guidelines of the national health authority
4.7 Logistics, Supply and Finance Management
To ensure the continuity of the hospital supply and delivery chain, the following three main
functional areas shall be ensured:
(1) Operations: Responsible for the coordinated tactical response for the event/incident
(2) Logistics: Entails provision of facilities, services, and materials, including transportation
and fuel, shelter, personal hygiene, food, potable water, water for fire suppression,
medical attention and supplies, relief personnel etc.
(3) Finance/Administration: Includes tracking all event/incident related costs and evaluating
the financial considerations of the event/incident.
For efficient logistics, supply and financial management every hospital/healthcare facility
shall:
i. Develop and maintain an updated inventory of all equipment, supplies and
pharmaceuticals and establishment of a shortage-alert mechanism
ii. Estimate consumption of essential supplies and pharmaceuticals using most likely
disaster scenarios
iii. Consult with relevant authorities to ensure the continuous provision of essential
medicines and supplies
iv. Assess the quality of the contingency items prior to purchase
v. Establish contingency agreements with vendors to ensure the procurement
prompt delivery of equipment and supplies in a disaster situation
vi. Develop mechanisms for storage and stockpiling of additional supplies including
pharmaceuticals and ensure an uninterrupted cold chain
vii. Establish mechanisms for quick assessment of the functional status of different
equipment and prompt maintenance and repair of those equipment required for
essential services

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Hospital Safety
viii. Define the hospital pharmacy’s role in providing pharmaceuticals to patients being
treated at home or at alternate treatment sites
ix. Establish coordination for a contingency transport strategy for patient transfer
x. Establish a simple disaster budget protocol for quick mobilization of funds for
disaster response
xi. Ensure availability of petty cash/dedicated contingency fund which could be used
for disaster response
xii. Introduce special accounting policies and procedures for efficient financial
management during emergencies
 Safe disposal of Bio-medical waste as per The Bio-Medical Waste (Management
Handling Rules, 1998 which were notified under the Environment Protection Act,
1986 (29 of 1986) by the Ministry of Environment and Forest, Govt. of India on 20th
July, 1998. The guidelines have been prepared to enable each hospital to implement
the said Rules, by developing comprehensive plan for hospital waste management, in
term of segregation, collection, treatment, transportation and disposal of the hospital
waste
4.8 Continuity of Essential Support Services
Every hospital shall ensure the continuity of essential services in all the circumstances
by ensuring adequate resources and hospital supplies, developing and ensuring back up
arrangement of utility services, having a deployable evacuation plan, coordinating and
networking with neighboring hospitals/health care institutions that can facilitate in continuing
the essential services of the hospitals during the emergencies.
The Utility Systems Management plan and protocols shall be overseen by a Utilities
Subcommittee of the Hospital Disaster Management Committee and report related concerns
to that committee.
Every hospital shall also have a business continuity plan (BCP) that can be activated in
emergencies to facilitate in continuing essential/critical services of the hospital. The main
elements of a hospital BCP shall be as follows:
(1) plans and procedures for all readiness levels;
(2) essential business functions;
(3) succession of key leadership positions and delegations of authority for their
associated duties; safekeeping of vital records and resources;

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Hospital Safety
(4) identification of continuity facilities;
(5) a plan for interoperable and redundant communications;
(6) human resource planning;
(7) validation of the plan through testing, training and exercising activities;
(8) specify a plan for devolution of essential business functions; and
(9) provide a plan for reconstitution after the disaster.
A key aspect of continuity of essential support services is the structural design and safety of
the essential support service systems. The Utilities Sub-Committee shall refer to the section
3.5 of this guideline and implement the necessary provisions to ensure the continuity of
essential services.
To ensure the continuity of essential services every hospital/healthcare facility shall:
i. List and identify all hospital services and rank them in order of priority.
ii. Develop a utility management plan and protocols for the hospital, with clear
actionable mechanisms to ensure proper maintenance, 24x7 availability of the
routine/normal and emergency domestic and treated water systems, power
systems,medical gasandvacuumsystems,naturalgassystems,heating,ventilation
and air conditioning systems, elevators/lifts, fire/life safety systems.
iii. Identifytheresourcesneededtoensurethecontinuityofessentialhospitalservices,
in particularthoseforcriticallyill and othervulnerablegroups (e.g. pediatric,elderly
and disabled patients)
iv. Ensure the existence of a systematic and deployable evacuation plan that seeks
to safeguard the continuity of critical care
v. Coordinate with local health authorities, neighboring hospitals and private medical
practitioners to ensure continuous provision of essential medical services to the
community
vi. Ensure the availability of appropriate back-up arrangements for essential life lines
including water, power, food supplies, medical gases etc.
vii. Ensure the availability of adequate hospital supplies
viii. Ensure contingency mechanisms for hospital waste management

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Hospital Safety
4.9 Triage
Triage is the process of sorting injured people into groups based on the severity of their
conditions, so that the most serious cases can be treated first. Every hospital shall prioritize
patient treatment efficiently when resources are insufficient, by undertaking triage based on
the philosophy that ‘the sickest is seen first’. Patients shall be evaluated quickly for their vital
signs, chief complaint and other key indicators to be categorized as:
(1) Category I (obvious life-threatening emergency): The physician shall examine the
patient with zero delay. Case examples include cardiac arrest, continuous seizures,
acute severe chest pain, haematemesis, sudden loss of consciousness, major
trauma with hypotension, etc.
(2) Category II (Potential for life-threatening emergency): The possibility of an occult
or pending emergency condition. Although some of these patients initially may
appear to have not-so-serious chief complaints, about 25% of these patients have
high-risk conditions. The patient shall be fully evaluated and treated by a physician
within 10 minutes of arrival, since there could be potential instability to the vital
signs. Case examples include dyspnoea, high fever, acute abdominal pain, acute
confusion, severe pain, serious extremity injuries, large lacerations, etc.
(3) Category III (non-life-threatening emergency): These patients' presentation need
emergency care but provide no reason to consider the possibility of threat to life
or limb. These patients shall be seen by an Emergency Management physician on
a first-come first served basis in the Consultation Room. Case examples include
chronic, minor, or self-limiting disorders, medication refill, skin disorders, mild adult
upper respiratory tract symptoms, mild sore throat, blood pressure check, etc.
To undertake effective triage every hospital/healthcare facility shall:
i. Designate an experienced triage officer to oversee all triage operations
ii. Ensure that areas for receiving patients, as well as waiting areas, are effectively
covered, secure from potential environmental hazards and provided with adequate
work space, has adequate lighting and access to back up power
iii. Ensure that the triage area is in close proximity to essential personnel, medical
supplies and key care services and that entrances and exit routes to and from the
triage area are clearly identified
iv. Identify a contingency site for receipt and triage of mass-casualty victims and an
alternate waiting area for wounded patients who are able to walk

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Hospital Safety
v. Establishment of a mass-casualty triage protocol based on severity of illness/injury,
survivability and hospital capacity
vi. Establish a clear method of identification of triaged patients
vii. Ensure adequate supply of triage tags
viii. Ensure operationalization of protocols on hospital admission, discharge, referral
and access to operation theatres when the disaster plan is activated to facilitate
patient flow
4.10 Surge Capacity for Medical Response
Surge capacity is the ability of a health service to expand beyond normal capacity to meet
increased demand for clinical care. Every hospital shall calculate their surge capacity early in
the planning process such that the disaster response structure can be established, expanded,
and contracted depending on the type and size of the incident. The objective of planning for
surge capacity shall be to undertake the following activities during a disaster event:
(1) Conduct a situation assessment
(2) Collect, evaluate disseminate, and use information of the event/incident
(3) Develop information with regard to the hospital’s current status with respect to
the event/incident, to assist in the development of contingency plans (including
status of response efforts and resources)
The Hospital Capacity Analysis tool shall be used to calculate a hospital’s surge capacity by
determining:
(a) Hospital Treatment Capacity (HTC): defined as the number of casualties that can
be treated in the hospital in an hour and is usually calculated as 3% of the total
number of beds.
(b) Hospital Surgical Capacity (HSC): the number of seriously injured patients that
can be operated upon within a 12-hour period. It is usually calculated as.
HSC = Number of operation rooms x 7 x 0.25
12 hrs
(Note: The above standards are for a 1000 bedded tertiary hospital. Modifications shall be made based on the
bed strength and staff strength for individual hospitals. Hospitals shall device and calculate their own treatment
capacity based on their previous experiences.)

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Hospital Safety
To ensure that the estimated surge capacity is applicable in real-time scenarios, every
hospital/healthcare facility shall:
i. Estimate the expected increase in demand for hospital services and calculate the
maximum capacity required for the same
ii. Identify methods of expanding hospital inpatient/outpatient capacity
iii. Outsource care or shift non-critical patients to appropriate alternative sites to
increase the hospital’s capacity
iv. Designate care areas for patient overflow
v. Verify availability of vehicles and resources for patient transportation
vi. Establish mechanisms for inter-facility patient transfer
vii. Identify potential gaps in the provision of critical medical care and address the
same while coordinating with neighboring and network hospitals
viii. Identify sites that may be converted into additional patient care units
ix. Prioritize/cancel non-essential services when necessary
x. Adapt hospital admission and discharge criteria and prioritization of clinical
interventions according to the available treatment capacity and demand
xi. Designate a specific area that may be used as a temporary morgue and formulate
a contingency plan for ensuring required post mortem procedures
xii. Establish protocols for maintenance of a special disaster store/stock pile
xiii. Designate an official for information and communication with attending family
members
Additionally, the following resources shall be assessed and maintained to ensure effective
surge capacity management:
1) Manpower
2) Stores and equipment
3) Mortuary
4) Procedure for discharge/transfer of patients
5) Emergency blood bank
6) Dietary services
7) Mutual aid agreements for transfers and accommodation with network
hospitals

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Hospital Safety
4.11 Post-Disaster Recovery
Post-disaster recovery planning shall be part of the Hospital Disaster Management Planning
process and it shall be performed at the onset of response activities.
To ensure speedy and effective post-disaster recovery every hospital/healthcare facility
shall:
i. Designate an official/member of the staff to oversee the hospital recovery
operations
ii. Determine the essential criteria and processes to deactivate the disaster response
and recovery activities from the hospital’s normal operations
iii. Undertake a Post Disaster Damage Assessment if there is structural damage to the
hospital
iv. Estimate the time and resources that shall be required to undertake complete
repair/replacement/retrofitting before a facility that is severely damaged (and
requires complete evacuation) can be re-opened
v. Undertake a post-response hospital inventory assessment and consider repair or
replacement of equipment as required (equipment venders could be involved in
assessing the functional status of the sophisticated equipment)
vi. Prepare and submit a post-response report to the chief of the hospital and other
pertinent stakeholders
vii. Debrief staff meticulously immediately after the disaster response phase to enable
them to cope and recover from any post traumatic stress disorder.
viii. Appropriately recognize the services provided by staff, volunteers, external
personnel and donors during disaster response and recovery
ix. Monitor post disaster health situation in the local community
x. Systematically and comprehensively document lessons learnt and structural
modification/adaptation of the hospital contingency plan as required
xi. Ensure that the transportation of casualties is undertaken as per the provisions
laid down in the HDMP or as per the appropriately modified provisions
xii. Provide definitive treatment
4.12 Patient Handling
Patients in a hospital can be categorised as:

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Hospital Safety
(1) ambulatory (outpatients), and
(2) admitted patients (inpatients).
The mobility of inpatients depends on the severity of their illness, such that:
i) Seriously ill patients depending completely on life support systems, cannot move by
themselves and need support of the health care workers/hospital staff to move
ii) Not seriously ill patients but those restricted by IV lines, nebulizers etc. need
support from their attendants to move, and
iii) Not seriously ill patients, require no support and can move by themselves.
To avoid panic, chaos, hap-hazard evacuation (should it be required), avoidable injuries and
loss of lives, hospitals shall sensitize patients and their attendants on the relevant aspects of
the HDMP and their role at the time of a disaster event, during their stay in the hospital.
Patients, their attendants and visitors shall be made aware of:
(1) Hazards and Risks: In and around the hospital through prominently displayed
posters, wall hangings and hoardings. The posters, wall hangings and hoardings
shall be permanent and displayed at all times in the hospital premises and shall
be updated as necessary.
(2) Emergency Exit Routes and Evacuation Plans: To be followed during disasters
through the prominent display of exit and evacuation route maps at strategic
locations throughout the hospital premises.
Hospitals shall also ensure that their alarms, emergency communication and Hospital Safety
and Security Procedures, adequately take into consideration the needs of patients, their
attendants and visitors; and ensure that no panic and chaos is initiated.
4.13 Volunteer Involvement and Management
Local volunteers in close proximity to hospitals/health care facilities shall be involved by the
hospital authorities for hospital disaster preparedness and response.
Volunteers shall be identified in the pre-disaster phase itself and an updated roster with key
information (like contact details, address, etc.) shall be maintained by the appropriate authority
in the hospital. Volunteers shall be trained in:
(1) Basic emergency preparedness and response
(2) Search and Rescue
(3) First Aid

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Hospital Safety
(4) Basic Life Support
(5) Community Triage
(6) Health Communication / Psychosocial Care
(7) Inter-personal Communication and Leadership
Volunteers shall be involved in all preparedness activities from the pre-disaster phase itself
and shall participate each time the hospital undertakes a drill, preparedness exercise, training,
etc. on Disaster Preparedness and Response.
4.14 Area Level Networking of Hospitals
To respond to a scenario when the hospital’s surge capacity has been exceeded by the number
of patients requiring medical attention, every hospital shall network with other hospitals in
the area so that patients may be transferred to the nearest equipped hospital for treatment
without any delay. Hospitals shall define the arrangements/memorandum of understandings
between them and the networked hospitals during the pre-disaster phase itself, for such
eventualities. A list of all networked hospitals (along with their capacity, speciality) shall be
maintained and updated regularly by the appropriate authority in the hospital.
Patients shall be transferred to a networked hospital only after immediate/life-threatening
injuries are addressed. The mode of transport to be used shall be determined according to the
patient’s needs and the available resources. A volunteer or hospital staff shall accompany the
patient to the referral hospital to ensure proper handing over to the competent authority.
4.15 Coordination and Collaboration with Wider Disaster Preparedness
Initiatives
Hospitals the facilities they provide are critical to a community’s coping capacity during
emergencies/disasters. Therefore, hospitals shall coordinate and collaborate with various
health sector and general disaster management preparedness and response initiatives to
enhance their own disaster preparedness and response readiness. Hospitals shall make efforts
to integrate into the district disaster management plan and disaster response activities; as well
as incorporate into their own HDMP relevant elements of the district disaster management plan
and the district’s planned response activities to be in rhythm with larger disaster management
goals of the district/state/country. Further, hospitals shall comply with various Acts, Standards,
Regulations and development programmes pertinent to hospitals in the country.

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Hospital Safety
4.16 Hospital Disaster Management Plan with respect to CBRN
Emergencies:
The National Disaster Management Guidelines on Medical Preparedness and Response
mention that the State Disaster Management Plan will identify and earmark certain hospitals
for development of specialized facilities for the management of CBRN casualties. Dedicated
staff of all these hospitals will be trained to use PPE and other universal safety precautions laid
down in the plan. CBRN management will begin with the decontamination and decorporation
followedbyimmediateandlongtermmedicaltreatmentofcasualties.Theidentifiedhospitals
will create specialized facilities for detection, decontamination, decorporation, treatment
(Refer : Point 6.7(page66-68) of the NDM Guidelines on Medical Preparedness and Mass
Casualty Management.
Further the guidelines also mention that specified hospitals for CBRN Treatment will stock all
the drugs, decorporation agents and other specialized items for treatment of CBRN casualties
(Refer Section on CBRN Stores –Page 68-69 of the NDM Guidelines on Medical Preparedness
and mass casualty management)

Hospital Safety 31
5.1 Scope
Specifications laid down in this Chapter shall be applicable for:
(a) Planning, design and construction of New Hospitals; and
(b) Re-planning, assessment and retrofitting of Existing Hospitals.
When provisions given in this Chapter conflict with those given in relevant national standards
and guidelines (meant for safety of hospitals in India), specifications given in this Chapter shall
govern.
Specifications given in this Chapter are intended for
(a) Structural Elements (SEs)
These are components of buildings, which resist loads imposed by external load effects, and
support all Non-Structural Elements (NSEs) and imposed loads on floors and roof slabs; and
(b) Non-Structural Elements (NSEs)
Thesearecomponents of buildings,which DO NOT resist loads imposed byexternal load effects,
but are supported by SEs of buildings; they fulfil the necessary architectural and functional
requirements.
These specifications address all load effects likely to act on Hospital Buildings (including Blasts,
Cyclones and Earthquakes).
Four aspects shall be addressed to ensure safety of SEs and NSEs of Hospital Buildings:
(1) In New Buildings
(i) Structural Design and Construction.
(2) In Existing Buildings
(i) Pre-Disaster Safety Assessment,
(ii) Retrofitting, and
Design and Safety of
Hospital Buildings
5

32
Hospital Safety
(iii) Post-Disaster Damage Assessment.
To undertake the above activities, documents are required to assist architects and designers,
based on sound scientific principles and best practices worldwide. Tables 3.1 and 3.2 indicate
the status of availability of documents. Documents presently not available shall be developed
through a nationally coordinated effort.
Table 5.1: Applicable Standards for ensuring Safety of Structural Systems and Structural
Elements (SEs) of Hospital Buildings
S.No. Standard or Guideline Comment
1 StructuralDesignofNew
Hospitals
This Guideline addresses additional requirements for
DESIGN of SEs (over and above those prescribed by
relevant national standards), but does NOT provide
specifications for DETAILING of SEs and connections
between SEs.
Detailed clauses and commentaries need to be developed
specifically for structural design.
2 Pre-Disaster Structural
Safety Assessment of
Existing Hospitals
Basic IS code is available for masonry and RC
structures.
Detailed documents need to be developed, which shall
comply with the requirements laid down in this Chapter
also.
3 Structural Design of
Retrofit of Existing
Hospitals
Currently, no standard is available.
also.
4 Post-Disaster Structural
Damage Assessment of
Existing Hospitals
also.

Design and Safety of Hospital Buildings
33
Hospital Safety
Table 5.2: Applicable Standards for ensuring Safety of Non-Structural Elements (NSEs) of
buildings
S.No. Standard or Guideline Comment
1 Design of NSEs of New
Hospitals
This Guideline addresses additional DESIGN
requirements (over and above those prescribed by
relevant national standards), but does NOT provide
specifications for DETAILING of connections between
structural and non-structural members.
Detailedclausesandcommentariesneedtobedeveloped
on design and detailing of connection between SEs and
NSEs.
2 Pre-Disaster Safety
Assessment of NSEs
Currently, no formal standard is available.
also.
3 Design of Retrofit of Non-
Structural Systems and
Elements in Hospitals
This Guideline addresses the additional
requirements.
also.
4 Post-Disaster Damage
Assessment of NSEs
also.
Note: Basic guidance on these four aspects is available in some national and international
documents [e.g., ‘Reducing Earthquake Risk in Hospitals from Equipment, Contents,
Architectural Elements and Building Utility Systems.’ Geo-Hazards International. 2009].
5.2 Expected Performance Of Hospitals
Building Units of a Hospital Campus shall be classified under two groups, namely,
a. Critical Units of Hospital Buildings – Buildings and Structures (and therefore SEs and
NSEs) that provide medical services essential in the immediate aftermath of disasters ;
and

34
Hospital Safety
b. Other Units of Hospital Buildings – Buildings and Structures (and therefore SEs and NSEs)
that provide all the other services that may not be required in the immediate aftermath
of disasters.
The expected performance is different for each of these two groups of hospital buildings.
The Critical Units shall comply also with specifications laid down in this Chapter in addition
to specifications laid down in the prevalent relevant national standards; the Other Units shall
comply with the specifications laid down in the prevalent relevant national standards.
5.2.1 Performance Criteria
Under loads actions other than earthquakes for all units of the Hospital Building, no damage
is permitted in SEs. But, under the action of earthquake effects, two cases arise for SEs:
(1) Critical Units – structural damage commensurate with Immediate Occupancy (IO)
performance level is permitted;
(2) Other Units – structural damage commensurate with Life Safety (LS) performance level
is permitted.
The definitions of IO and LS performance levels are:
a. ImmediateOccupancy:StructuralSystemsandStructuralElements(SEs)sustainfinecracks
and undergo marginal nonlinear actions that pose no threat to the people conducting
within the hospital and the activities to be undertaken in the hospital thereby allowing
the structure to be occupiable immediately after the expected load effects are removed;
and
b. Life Safety- SEs sustain reasonable structural damage, but do not lead to structural
collapse.
Similarly, under loads actions other than earthquakes for all units of the Hospital Building, no
damage is permitted in NSEs. But, under the action of earthquake effects, two cases arise for
NSEs:
(1) Critical Units – damage commensurate with Immediate Use (IU) performance level is
permitted;
(2) Other Units – damage commensurate with Dysfunctional State (DS) performance level
is permitted.
The definitions of IU and DS performance levels are:
a. Immediate Use: Non-Structural Elements (NSEs) sustain no damage and undergo elastic
actions that pose no threat to the use of the NSEs and the service to be provided by it

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Hospital Safety
thereby allowing the NSEs to be usable immediately after the expected load effects are
removed; and
b. Dysfunctional State – NSEs sustain reasonable damage that renders it temporarily out
of use, but that is repairable but do not lead to structural collapse.
5.2.2 Load Levels
Critical Units of hospital buildings and structures shall be designed to resist all expected loads
given by
a. Prevalent relevant national standards, and
b. Additional specifications laid down in this Chapter.
Extreme load actions are caused by blasts, cyclones and earthquakes. Site-specific studies shall
be undertaken to estimate the hazard level for these extreme actions for all hospitals with high
risk; the level of risk will be determined by the competent authority considering level of hazard,
occupancy, importance and criticality of services to be rendered by the health facility.
5.3 Design Standards
Structural Elements (SEs) of all Critical Units of the new Health Facilities shall comply with
requirements of this Chapter in addition to all relevant existing national standards and
guidelines laid down by various statutory bodies, non-statutory bodies as well as client owner
of health facility. The other Units of the new health facilities shall comply with requirements of
all relevant existing national standards and guidelines laid down by various statutory bodies,
non-statutory bodies as well as client owner of health facility. The latest versions of national
documents currently in use are:
a. New Hospitals: NBC, IS:875, IS:1893(1), IS:1893(4)( for pipelines), IS:456, IS:800, IS:13920,
GSDMA Guidelines, and IPHS, and
b. Existing Hospitals: NBC 2007, IS:875, IS:1893(1), IS:456, IS:800, IS:1905, IS:13920,
IS:13935, IS:15988, and GSDMA Guidelines.
5.4 Structural Elements
Higher levels of engineering shall be adopted in the planning, design, construction and
maintenance of Critical Units of Hospital Buildings; this will require engineers to be examined
for their competency before being empowered to work in projects related to health facilities.
Hence, the extreme load effects for which Critical Units of Hospital Buildings shall be designed

36
Hospital Safety
are higher specifications than those for which the Other Units of Hospital Buildings are required
to be designed. These higher specifications are given in this section beyond those specified in
the relevant national standards.
5.4.1 New Health Facilities
A new health facility means
(1) A new construction, and
(2) A reconstruction of an existing facility at the same site or new site.
(a) Site Selection
The following sites shall be prohibited for locating a hospital:
i. Liquefiable ground;
ii. Hill slopes (unstable), or land adjoining hill slopes known to have rolling debris; (whether
sloped or flat)
iii. Flood or tsunami prone areas;
iv. Adjoining unsafe buildings and structures; and
v. Poor accessibility in post-disaster situations.
Local municipal bodies shall undertake to assess these vulnerable areas and inform the
stakeholders of the same.
When existing hospitals are located in any of these vulnerable locations, no future expansions
shall be permitted in the hospital campuses. Also, critical assessment shall be undertaken to
study the risks involved and appropriate actions shall be taken either to mitigate the effects or
relocate the hospital. When new towns or layouts are being planned, the master plan of the
same shall take cognisance of the prevalent vulnerabilities before determining the location
of new hospitals.
(b) Structural Systems
(i) Material
Thebasicmaterialfortheconstructionofthestructuralsystem(andStructuralElements)ofnew
hospital buildings shall NOT be unreinforced masonry. Structural Elements of all new hospital
structures shall be made of Reinforced Concrete and/or Structural Steel, except for structures
in seismic zone II, where Reinforced Masonry may be used. Design codes need to be developed
fordesign and construction of Reinforced Masonry,and associated capacitydevelopmentneeds
to be undertaken alongside of architects, engineers, contractors and masons.

37
Hospital Safety
(ii) Use of Structural Walls
The structural system of new hospital buildings shall NOT be Moment Resisting Frames alone
along any of the two mutually perpendicular plan directions of the building; structural system of
all new hospital buildings shall have Structural Walls in each of the two mutually perpendicular
plan directions of the building in addition to Moment Resisting Frames.
1. The structural system of Moment Resisting Frames with Structural Walls shall be designed
as a DUAL SYSTEM (as defined in IS:1893 (Part 1).
2. The Structural Walls shall be made of Reinforced Concrete (RC) and provided in select
bays running through the full height of the building, irrespective of choice of material
of the basic structural system adopted for the hospital, namely RC or Structural Steel.
3. Structural walls made of steel plates or timber may be allowed in the construction of
Hospitals only in Seismic Zone II. Even then, safety of such hospital buildings with steel
plate or timber Structural Walls shall be established by:
a. Analytical Methods, through nonlinear pushover analyses and nonlinear time
history analyses under a suite of appropriate ground motions, and
b. Full-scale experimental testing of such structural walls and sub-assemblages
including them being subjected to deformations imposed on them during expected
ground motions.
4. The total cross-sectional area of all RC Structural Walls shall be at least 4% of the plinth
area of the building (if that based on design is smaller than 4%), along each of the two
mutually perpendicular principal plan directions.
5. RC Structural Walls shall be designed in accordance with IS:13920 or specialist literature
more stringent than IS:13920.
6. When RC Structural Walls are rested on individual strip footings, the large lateral
overturning moments and lateral shear force induced under the action of extreme load
effects shall be resisted by positive strategies. The bottom raft of the strip footings shall
be anchored to rocky strata when underlying ground strata has hard rock, and to pile
foundations when underlying ground strata is soft soil. This may not be a concern when
RC walls are rested on Mat foundations.
7. At each joint of Moment Resisting Frames, the design moment capacity of column section
shall be at least 2 times design moment capacity of beam section.

38
Hospital Safety
(iii) Base Isolation Systems
Base Isolation System is an expensive technology option though effective to counter ill effects
of strong earthquake shaking in new hospital buildings. Hence, Base Isolation System may be
adopted in important hospitals in seismic zones IV and V. But, this system can help in minimising
effects of earthquake shaking on NSEs. When the client owner insists on using such a system,
it shall be adopted only when safety of such hospital buildings is established by
1. Analytical Methods, through nonlinear pushover analyses and nonlinear time history
analyses under a suite of appropriate earthquake ground motions, and
2. Full-scale experimental testing of base isolation devices demonstrating that they are
capable of resisting expected strong earthquake shaking.
(iv) Prohibited Structural Systems
The following structural systems shall be prohibited for use in new hospitals:
1. Flat Slab buildings, with or without structural walls ;
2. Pre-stressed floor systems;
3. Precast constructions (with natural or man-made materials), in part or whole of the
structure, and
4. Pre-engineered structures in part of the whole of the structure
5. Large cantilever structures and long span structures
6. Unreinforced masonry buildings
(c) Structural Configuration
(i) Regular Structural Configurations
All new hospital buildings shall have regular structural configuration only. Buildings shall be
deemed to be regular when they meet requirements laid out in Clause 7.1 of the Indian Seismic
Code IS:1893 (Part 1). Floating and setback columns shall not be allowed in buildings.
(ii) Structural Configurations Prohibited
Structural configurations with open ground storeys or flexible or weak storeys at any other
level shall be prohibited in hospital buildings.
(d) Structural Analysis
Soil-Foundation System
The 3D modeling and analyses of Critical Units of Hospital Buildings shall include:

39
Hospital Safety
(i) Flexibility of soil strata underneath the building, based on results of geotechnical studies
at the sites; and
(ii) Possible uplift actions at individual footings under the action of extreme load effects.
Effect of URM Infills
Multiple 3D models shall be considered in the analyses of Critical Units of Hospital Buildings
to account for detrimental effects of stiffness and strength contributions of unreliable URM
infills. In the design of SEs and NSEs, these models shall estimate the effects on strength and
deformation demands of these Critical Units of Hospital Buildings.
(e) Structural Design
SEs of Critical Units of Hospital Buildings shall be designed to resist elastically the expected
load actions on them, including those due to earthquake effects. Hence, the design lateral
earthquake forces prescribed in this guideline are much larger than those currently employed
in design of buildings (including hospitals), to meet the requirement of immediate use of the
hospital building structure and fully functional performance of the NSEs within the hospital
building. Here, “designed to resist elastically” shall imply that the stress-resultant demands
(namely P, V, M and T) on each structural element is less than its associated nominal capacities
(as defined by IS:456 and IS:800 for structural elements made of RC and Structural Steel,
respectively).
The design horizontal acceleration coefficient Ah
given in Clause 6.4.2 of IS:1893(1)-2002 for
design of SEs shall be replaced by:










g
S
R
ZI
A a
h
where, Z is the Seismic Zone Factor, I the Importance Factor, the Design Acceleration Spectrum
for three different soil conditions, and the Response Reduction Factor, all as defined in
IS:1893(1)-2002.
Effects of vertical earthquake ground shaking also shall be considered in the design of SEs.
5.4.2 Existing Health Facilities
An existing health facility means
(1) All existing health facilities that do not meet the standards mentioned in this
guideline,
(2) A reconstruction of an existing facility at the same site or new site, and

40
Hospital Safety
(3) An existing commercial, office or residential buildings designed and built for other
functional use, but now intended to be used as a hospital facility.
The number of existing hospital buildings is large, which require seismic retrofitting to meet
specifications for earthquake safety laid down in this Chapter. Upgrading this large number of
existing hospital buildings is a daunting task.
(a) Building Configuration
The building structure of retrofitted hospitals shall meet the criterion specified in this
section.
(i) Originally REGULAR Buildings
Buildings shall be deemed to be REGULAR when they meet requirements laid out in the current
Indian Seismic Code IS:1893 (Part 1)-2002). The building structure of the retrofitted REGULAR
buildings shall meet the following criterion under the shaking specified in Section 5.4.2(b) of
this document:
(1) Linear structural analysis shall be performed for seismic safety assessment of
retrofitted Regular Buildings, to assess (i) the stress resultant demands (of axial
load, shear forces and bending moments) on different structural elements in the
existing building, and (ii) the lateral drift demand on the different storeys of the
building.
(2) These stress resultants demands imposed by the level of shaking considered shall
not exceed the design capacity of any structural element of the existing building
with the considered retrofit scheme.
(3) The storey lateral drift demand in the existing building shall not exceed 0.4% of the
heightofthestoreyusingun-cracked section properties. Thisoverall deflection shall
be arrived at by linear analysis of the structure considering all competent masonry
and reinforced concrete elements. For this analysis, material properties shall be
taken as per the relevant Indian Standard Codes, namely IS:456 and IS:13920
for reinforced concrete frame buildings and IS:1905 for masonry buildings. If all
attempts fail to collect relevant field data for the buildings, lower boundary values
for the existing materials may be used. Further, all strength/stress requirements
shall be met with as laid out for structural components of the buildings in the said
and other relevant Indian Standard Codes.

41
Hospital Safety
(ii) Originally IRREGULAR Buildings
Buildings shall be deemed to be IRREGULAR when they conform to the clauses laid out in the
current Indian Seismic Code IS:1893 (Part 1)-2002. The building structure of the retrofitted
IRREGULAR buildings shall meet the following criterion under the shaking specified in Section
5.4.2(b) of this document:
(1) Structural analysis shall be performed as given in IS:13935 or IS:15988 for seismic
safety assessment of retrofitted Regular Buildings, to assess (i) the stress resultant
demands (of axial load, shear forces and bending moments) on different structural
elements in the existing building, and (ii) the lateral drift demand on the different
storeys of the building.
(2) These stress resultants demands imposed by the level of shaking considered shall
not exceed the design capacity of any structural element of the existing building
with the considered retrofit scheme.
(3) The storey lateral drift demand in the existing building shall not exceed 0.35%
of the height of the building using un-cracked section properties. This overall
deflection shall be arrived at by linear analysis of the structure considering all
competent masonry and reinforced concrete elements. For this analysis, material
properties shall be taken as per the relevant Indian Standard Codes, namely IS:456
and IS:13920 for reinforced concrete frame buildings and IS:1905 for masonry
buildings. If all attempts fail to collect relevant field data for the buildings, lower
boundary values for the existing materials may be used. Further, all strength/
stress requirements shall be met with as laid out for structural components of the
buildings in the said and other relevant Indian Standard Codes.
Level of Earthquake Shaking to be considered
Making existing Critical Units of Hospital Buildings meet requirements laid down for new
hospitals in this Guideline can be difficult – it can be too stringent to meet the specifications
corresponding to new buildings, or even too expensive to do so. When existing deficient Critical
Units of Hospital Buildings are to be retrofitted, they shall be designed to resist the effects of
earthquake shaking given by the design horizontal acceleration coefficient Ah
given in Clause
6.4.2 of IS:1893(1)-2002 for design of SEs given by:










g
S
R
ZI
A a
h
2

42
Hospital Safety
where, Z is the Seismic Zone Factor, I the Importance Factor, Sa
/g the Design Acceleration
Spectrum for three different soil conditions, and R the Response Reduction Factor, all as
defined in IS:1893(1)-2002.
(c) Structural Design
Critical Units of existing hospital buildings shall be improved so that their Structural Elements
resist the expected load actions on them without significant damage under the action of load
actions other than earthquakes, and structural damage such that it does not lead to collapse
under the action of earthquake effects.
The Critical Units of existing masonry or RC Hospital Buildings shall be assessed by analytical
methods specified in IS:13935 or IS:15988, respectively.
5.5 Non-Structural Elements
The Non-Structural Elements (NSEs) of all New Hospitals and NSEs of all Existing Hospitals shall
comply with all relevant existing national standards and guidelines as laid down by the various
statutory and non-statutory bodies as well as the client owner of the hospital. In addition,
specifications laid down in this Chapter shall be applicable for
a. Planning, design and construction of NSEs of New Hospitals, and
b. Re-planning, assessment and retrofitting of NSEs of Existing Hospitals.
The specifications laid down in this Chapter shall govern over similar clauses given in the
prevalent relevant national standards.
5.5.1 Design Strategy
NSEs shall be classified into three types depending on their earthquake behaviour, namely:
a. Acceleration-sensitive NSEs: The lateral inertia forces generated in these NSEs during
earthquake shaking cause their sliding or toppling to the level of their base or lower.
b. Deformation-sensitive NSEs: The relative lateral deformation in these NSE spanning
between two SEs (e.g., a pipeline passing between two parts of a building with a
separation joint in between) or between an SE and a point outside building (e.g., an
electric cable between the building and ground/pole outside the building), causes them
move or swing by large amounts in translation and rotation under inelastic deformations
of SEs imposed on them during earthquake shaking; and
c. Acceleration-and-Deformation-sensitive NSEs: Both of the conditions described in (a)
and (b) above are valid.

43
Hospital Safety
Table 3.3 provides a list of NSEs and identifies if the NSE is acceleration-sensitive or deformation
sensitive. Some NSEs fall under both categories, with one of the effects being the more
dominant (called primary effect) and the other less dominant (called secondary effect). For such
NSEs, Table 3.3 identifies both the primary and secondary effects for design of the connection
between the NSE and the SE. All NSEs in new hospitals shall be protected against the effects
mentioned above. Positive systems are required to either anchor or release the restraint at
the ends (depending whether the NSE is acceleration-sensitive or displacement-sensitive,
respectively) to ensure there is no damage to NSEs.
Table 5.3: Categorisation of commonly used NSEs based on earthquake behaviour
Category Sub-category Non-Structural Element Sensitivity
Acceleration Deformation Both
C o n s u m e r
Goods inside
buildings
Furniture and
minor items
1. Storage shelves
2.
Multi-level material
stacks

Appliances 1. Refrigerators
2. Washing machines
3. Gas cylinders
4. TVs
5. Diesel generators
6. Water pumps (small)
7. Window ACs
8. Wall mounted ACs

Architectural
finishesinside
buildings
Openings 1. Doors and windows
2.
Large-panel glass
panes with frames
(as windows or infill
walling material)
3. Other partitions
Secondary Primary 
False ceilings Directly stuck to or hung
from roof

Suspended integrated
ceiling system
Stairs Secondary Primary 

44
Hospital Safety
Architectural
finishesinside
buildings
E x t e r i o r
or Interior
Façade
Tiles (ceramic, stone,
glass or other)
(i) pasted on surface
(ii) bolted to surface
(iii)
hung from hooks
bolted to surface
Not Permitted
Partitions not
held snugly
b e t w e e n
lateral load
r e s i s t i n g
members
Primary Secondary 
Appendages
to buildings
Vertical
projections
1. Chimneys and Stacks
2. Parapets
3. Water Tanks (small)
4.
Hoardings anchored
on roof tops
5.
A n t e n n a s
c o m m u n i c a t i o n
towers on rooftops
6.
Solar Panels on walls
or rooftops

H o r i zo nta l
projections
1. Sunshades
2.
C a n o p i e s a n d
Marquees

Hoardings anchored to
vertical face
Exterior
Structural
Glazing
Systems

45
Hospital Safety
Services and
Utilities
From within
a n d f r o m
outside to
inside the
building
1.
Water supply
pipelines
2.
Electricity cables
wires
3. Gas pipelines
4. Sewage pipelines
5.
Telecommunication
wires
6.
Rainwater drain pipes
7. Elevators
8. Fire hydrant systems
9. Air-conditioning ducts

Inside the
building
1.
Pipes carrying
pressurized fluids
2.
Fire hydrant piping
system
3.
Other fluid pipe
systems
S t o r a g e
V e s s e l s
and Water
Heaters
1.
Flatbottomcontainers
and vessels
2.
StructurallySupported
Vessels

Mechanical
Equipment
1. Boilers and Furnaces
2.
General
manufacturing and
process machinery
3. HVAC Equipment


46
Hospital Safety
Medical
Equipment
Sensitive 1. Ventilator 
2. Boyles Apparatus 
3. Bedside Monitors 
4. Defibrillator 
5.
Peritoneal Dialysis
Machine

6.
I n f a n t R a d i a n t
Warmer

7. Phototherapy unit 
8. Operating Microscope 
Special 1. Colour Doppler 
2. Endoscopes 
3.
Slit lamp with
Applanation
Tonometer

4.
Portable X-Ray
machine

5. ECG machine 
6. Ultrasound machine 
7. Oxygen Concentrator 
8.
Automatic Cell
counter

Generic 1. CT Scan machine 
2. Centrifuge machine 
3.
Blood Bank
refrigerators

4. Deep freezer 
5. Operating Table 
6. EEG machine 
7. Blood Cell Separator 
8.
Impedance
Audiometer

9. Autoclave 

47
Hospital Safety
5.5.2 Non-Structural Systems
(a) Non-Structural Elements Prohibited
The following systems shall be prohibited for use as NSEs and its connections to the SEs in
new hospitals:
i. False ceilings hung from soffit of RC roof or floor slabs with anchor fasteners
embedded in concrete portion of RC slabs; when false ceilings are required from
medical safety point of view, exceptions shall be allowed subject to requirements
given below;
ii. Tiles pasted on unreinforced load-bearing masonry walls, unreinforced masonry
infill walls, or RC walls,
iii. Glass façade made of stone, ceramic, glass, etc.; when glass facades are required
from medical safety point of view, exceptions shall be allowed subject to
requirements given below; and
iv. Any NSE nailed to or supported by the Unreinforced Masonry Infill walls made of
any material.
False Ceilings
a. False ceilings shall be used only sparingly in hospital buildings.
b. When the client owner of the hospital insists on providing false ceiling in specific rooms
from the point of view of medical safety, the following shall be ensured:
(1) The false ceiling system shall be a formal system that is supported from the
reinforcement bars of the RC roof slabs or the structural system of the building to
counter the effects of strong earthquake shaking,
(2) No false ceiling shall be anchored to or supported by unreinforced masonry walls.
(3) When false ceilings cannot be supported by the roof or the vertical elements of
the structural systems, they shall be supported by an independent system that
is supported on the floor slab, but not interfering with the lateral load resisting
system.
Structural Glazing
When the client owner of the hospital insists on using structural glazing, such systems shall
meet the requirements of this Guideline, and safety compliance shall be established by:
a. Analytical Methods, through nonlinear pushover analyses and nonlinear time history
analyses under a suite of appropriate strong ground motions; and

48
Hospital Safety
b. Full-scale experimental testing of structural glazing components, sub-assemblages and
systems made of the same to be capable of resisting expected strong earthquake shaking;
such tests should be performed at a research laboratory of national importance.
5.5.3 Protection Strategies
Three approaches can be employed to secure NSEs, namely:
a. Non-Engineered Practice (Common Sense Approach): This approach is based on common
sense and shall be applicable largely to secure small and light objects that cannot be
physically connected individually with SEs, e.g., bottles on a shelf. A list is given in Table
3.4 of NSEs that can be secured by this non-engineered strategy.
b. Pre-Engineered Practice (Prescriptive Approach): This approach is based on design
calculations, limited experiments and experiences from past earthquakes and shall
be employed to secure moderate sized NSEs that are generic factory-made products
and used commonly in houses and offices, e.g., wall mounted TV sets, wall mounted
geysers in bathrooms, cupboards rested against walls or completely kept away from
them, and electrical and plumbing lines running between floors of buildings or across a
construction joint in a building. It is imperative that manufacturers foresee all possible
on-site conditions before setting prescriptive standards for securing NSEs. A list is given
in Table 5.4 of NSEs that can come under pre-engineered strategy of protection.
c. Engineered Design Practice (Calculation-based Approach): This approach is based on
formal technical considerations. This approach is based on formal engineering design
and performance considerations of both the hazard and the capacity of the NSE. The
third strategy shall be used to secure massive and/or long (one-of-its-kind) NSEs. This
chapter provides recruitments for which NSEs and their connections to the SEs shall
comply with.
Table 5.4: Some examples of NSEs that require Non-Engineered and Pre-engineered Methods
of securing against earthquake effects
Method of Securing NSE
Non-Engineered Pre-Engineered
Cutlery, Crockery, and glasses on shelves; Cup boards; Small Book Shelves;
Books on shelves; Televisions on small tables;
Small items on supermarket shelves Desktop computers; Side boards;
Air Conditioning units;
Refrigerators; Filing Cabinets

49
Hospital Safety
5.5.4 Design Guidelines – Acceleration-Sensitive NSEs
The design lateral force Fp
for the design of acceleration-sensitive NSEs may be taken as:

p
p
p
p
p W
I
R
a
h
x
1
Z
F 







where Z is the Seismic Zone Factor (as defined in IS:1893 (Part 1)), Ip
the Importance Factor
of the NSE (Table 3.5), Rp
the Component Response Modification Factor (Table 3.6), ap
the
Component Amplification Factor (Table 5.6), Wp
the Weight of the NSE, x the height of point
of attachment of the NSE above top of the foundation of the building, and h the overall height
of the building.
Table 5.5: Proposed Importance Factors Ip
of NSEs
NSE Ip
Component containing hazardous contents 2.5
Life safety component required to function after an earthquake (e.g., fire
protection sprinklers system)
2.5
Storage racks in structures open to the public 2.5
All other components 2.0
Table5.6:Coefficientsap
andRp
ofArchitectural,MechanicalandElectricalNSEs[FEMA369,2001]
S. No. Item ap
Rp
1 Architectural Component or Element
Interior Non-structural Walls and Partitions
Plain (unreinforced) masonry walls 1.0 1.5
All other walls and partitions 1.0 2.5
Cantilever Elements (Unbraced or braced to structural frame below its
center of mass)
Parapets and cantilever interior non-structural walls 2.5 2.5
Chimneys and stacks where laterally supported by structures. 2.5 2.5
Cantilever elements (Braced to structural frame above its center of
mass)
Parapets 1.0 2.5
Chimneys and stacks 1.0 2.5
Exterior Non-structural Walls 1.0 2.5
Exterior Non-structural Wall Elements and Connections
Wall Element 1.0 2.5
Body of wall panel connection 1.0 2.5
Fasteners of the connecting system 1.25 1.0

50
Hospital Safety
Veneer
High deformability elements and attachments 1.0 2.5
Low deformability and attachments 1.0 1.5
Penthouses (except when framed by and extension of the building
frame)
2.5 3.5
Ceilings
All 1.0 2.5
Cabinets
Storage cabinets and laboratory equipment 1.0 2.5
Access floors
Special access floors 1.0 2.5
All other 1.0 1.5
Appendages and Ornamentations 2.5 2.5
Signs and Billboards 2.5 2.5
Other Rigid Components
Limited deformability elements and attachments 1.0 2.5
Low deformability elements and attachments 1.0 1.5
Other flexible Components
2 Mechanical and Electrical Component/Element
General Mechanical
Boilers and Furnaces 1.0 2.5
Pressure vessels/ on edges and free-standing 2.5 2.5
Stacks 2.5 2.5
Cantilevered chimneys 2.5 2.5
Others 1.0 2.5
Manufacturing and Process Machinery
General 1.0 2.5
Conveyors (non-personnel) 2.5 2.5
Piping Systems

51
Hospital Safety
HVAC System Equipment
Vibration isolated 2.5 2.5
Non-vibration isolated 1.0 2.5
Mounted in-line with ductwork 1.0 2.5
Other 1.0 2.5
Elevator Components 1.0 2.5
Escalator Components 1.0 2.5
Trussed Towers (free-standing or guyed) 2.5 2.5
General Electrical
Distributed systems (bus ducts, conduit, cable tray) 2.5 5.0
Equipment 1.0 1.5
Lighting Fixtures 1.0 1.5
5.5.5 Design Guidelines – Displacement-Sensitive NSEs
a. Displacement-sensitive NSEsconnectedtobuildingsatmultiplelevelsofthesamebuilding
or of adjacent buildings, and their supports on the SEs, shall be designed to allow the
relative displacements imposed at the ends by the load effects imposed on the NSE.
b. This imposed relative displacement can arise out of strong earthquake shaking, thermal
conditions in the SEs and NSE, imposed live loads, etc. In such cases, the relative
displacement imposed by each of these effects shall be cumulated to arrive at the
DESIGN Relative Displacement D. The effects of earthquake shaking shall be estimated
using earthquake demand given by Eq.(6.1) of this guideline.
c. NSEs shall be designed to accommodate design relative displacement D determined by
linear static or linear equivalent static analysis of the building structure subjected to
load effects mentioned in Clause 8.2.5.2 of this Guideline.
d. Flexibility or clearance of at least the design relative displacement D shall be provided
i. within the NSE, if both supports on the SE offer restraints against relative translation
between the SE and the NSE, or
ii. at the unrestrained support, if one of the supports on the SE offers no restraint
against relative translation between the SE and the NSE, and the other does.
e. The NSE can be supported between two levels of the same building, or between two
different buildings, between a building and the ground, or between building and another
system (like an electric pole or communication antenna tower). The design relative
displacement D shall be estimated as below:

52
Hospital Safety
i. Design HORIZONTAL and VERTICAL relative displacements DX and DY, respectively,
between two levels of the same building (Building A), one at height hz1
and other at
height hz2
from base of the building at which the NSE is supported consecutively,
shall be estimated as:
 
AX
2
z
AX
1
z
X 2
1
D 


 .
 
AY
2
z
AY
1
z
Y 2
1
D 


 .
where ( AX
1
z
 and AX
2
z
 ) and ( AY
1
z
 and AY
2
z
 ) are the design HORIZONTAL and VERTICAL
displacements, respectively, at levels z1
and z2
of the building A (at heights hz1
and
hz2
from the base of the building) under the application of the load effects in Clause
7.2.5.2 of this Guideline; and
ii. (ii) HORIZONTAL and VERTICAL relative displacements DX and DY, respectively,
between two levels on two adjoining buildings or two adjoining parts of the same
building, one on the first building (Building A) at height hz1 from its base and other
on the second building (Building B) at height hz2 from its base, at which the NSE
is supported consecutively, shall be estimated as:

BX
2
z
AX
1
z
X
D 



,
 
AY
2
z
AY
1
z
Y 2
1
D 


 .
,
where ( AX
1
z
 and AX
2
z
 ) and ( AY
1
z
 and AY
2
z
 ) are the design HORIZONTAL and VERTICAL
displacements,respectively,atlevel z1
(height hz1
)ofbuildingAandatlevel z2
(height
hz2
) of building B, respectively, at which the two ends of the NSE are supported.
5.6 Enabling Environment Towards Ensuring Hospital Safety
5.6.1 Certified Artisans and Licensed Engineers
Construction of hospital buildings shall be performed only by Certified Artisans and Licensed
Engineers. Towards this end, systems shall be developed for
a. Training and certification of all artisans involved in construction, like masons, carpenters,
plumbers, electricians, bar-benders, and welders; and
b. Capacity building of engineers on essential concepts of structural planning, design,
construction and maintenance, along with a system of licensing engineers by examining
their competence.

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Hospital Safety
5.6.2 Planning, Design and Construction
Construction of a hospital building shall be started ONLY AFTER the entire design and drawings
is completed, and approved for construction by the competent authority. Copies of the design
basis report, design calculations, and drawings of all hospitals shall be maintained so long as
the building stands by
a. Owner of the hospital or administrator of the hospital,
b. Competent authority approving the construction, and
c. Agency executing the work.
Architectural layouts shall be prepared for typical hospitals of different bed capacities, and
promoted for use, especially for government hospitals. Dedicated engineering wings shall be
created in various governments for planning, design, construction and maintenance of hospital
buildings and structures.
5.6.3 Accountability
Local municipal bodies shall create the necessary implementation system for ensuring that all
new health facilities comply with the provisions of this Guideline. In particular, a nodal officer
shall be identified to coordinate this. Performance of all artisans involved in construction shall
be assessed and recommended or otherwise for participation in future projects.
5.6.4 Peer Review of Safety of Hospital
a. All safety related designs and drawings shall be peer reviewed by an independent
professional engineer or an engineering organisation with competence to undertake the
work. For this purpose, the owner of the health facility shall empanel such individuals or
organisations, who have a proven record of undertaking design and detailing projects of
high demonstrated quality. This requires a major capacity building program for upgrading
engineering and architecture practices.
b. No peer review shall be undertaken by any academic even from an institute of national
importance or any technical institute or university. But, in critical cases, where new
knowledge is required to be generated or a new situation is encountered that requires
specialised knowledge to be applied, services may be sought only to resolve the matter
from competent faculty members from Institutes of national importance, but not to
approve the designs of the professional engineers.

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Hospital Safety
5.6.5 Test Facilities
The following facilities shall be developed as a long-term mitigation effort towards ensuring
safety of health facilities:
a. Suitable test facilities at national RD organisations to undertake seismic qualification
of medical equipment, and
b. Appropriate research laboratories across institutes of national importance to undertake
RD on niche and frontier areas of hospital safety, from points of view of both SEs and
NSEs.
5.6.6 Pilot Studies
Pilot projects need to be undertaken to prepare the following for typical primary health center
buildings (including structural and non-structural elements) in hill and plain areas:
a. Model designs for new hospitals;
b. Model retrofit designs of existing hospitals.
5.7 Miscellaneous
5.7.1 Instrumentation of Hospital Structures
All NEW hospital buildings or hospital buildings being retrofitted in seismic zone IV and V, and
hospitalbuildingsinwindzoneswithbasicwindspeed42m/sormore,shallbeinstrumentedwith
(1) Suitable number of triaxial accelerometers at appropriate locations to capture the
fundamentallateraltranslationalmodesofvibrationalongthetwomutuallyperpendicular
plan directions, and the fundamental torsional mode of vibration, and
(2) Anemometers to capture the wind speed at the roof of the building along the three
principle directions.
5.7.2 Post-Earthquake Assessment of Hospital Structures
Hospital buildings shall be inspected by competent licensed engineers after every damaging
earthquake to document damages (if any) to SEs and NSEs of the buildings, along with
recommendations for detailed study and suitable retrofitting as found necessary.
5.8 Capacity Building
A number of initiatives are necessary to build the required human resources to take forward
the subject of safety of structural and non-structural elements of hospitals. Some urgent ones
needed, include:

55
Hospital Safety
5.8.1 Quality Control
(1) Sensitise stakeholders of hospitals in India, especially policy makers and
administrators.
(2) Develop model curriculum for Post-Graduate Program for Disaster Safety of Lifeline
Buildings (such as Hospitals and Schools), covering
a) Planning, design, construction and maintenance of new hospital buildings
b) Vulnerability assessment and retrofitting of existing hospital buildings
c) Quality control and quality assurance of technical aspects related to the items in
(a) and (b) above of structural and non-structural elements. Special emphasis is
required for safety of non-structural elements (including contents, appendages
and services) of hospitals.
(3) Train teachers of technical institutes/colleges on subjects identified in item (2) above.
(4) Launch post-graduate programs in Disaster Safety of Lifeline Buildings (such as Hospitals
and Schools).
(5) Develop model curriculum for training of practicing engineers and architects in Disaster
Safety of Lifeline Buildings, covering
a. Planning, design, construction and maintenance of new hospital buildings
b. Vulnerability assessment and retrofitting of existing hospital buildings
c. Quality control and quality assurance of technical aspects related to the items in (a)
and (b) above of structural and non-structural elements. Separate programs shall
be organised for construction engineers executing the projects. Special emphasis
is required for safety of non-structural elements (including contents, appendages
and services) of hospitals.
(6) Undertake training of practicing engineers and architects on subject identified in item
(5) above.
5.8.2 Quality Assurance
Systems need to be developed at each state and urban center level for
1. Certification of artisans,
2. Licensing of engineers,
3. Peer Review of engineering designs, and
4. Field Inspection of constructions.

Hospital Safety 57
6.1. Scope
Provisions laid down in this chapter shall establish the minimum requirements for a reasonable
degree of safety from fire emergencies in hospitals, such that the probability of injury and
loss of life from the effects of fire are reduced. All healthcare facilities shall be so designed,
constructed, maintained and operated as to minimize the possibility of a Fire emergency
requiring the evacuation of occupants, as safety of hospital occupants cannot be assured
adequately by depending on evacuation alone. Hence measures shall be taken to limit the
development and spread of a fire by providing appropriate arrangements within the hospital
through adequate staffing careful development of operative and maintenance procedures
consisting of:
(1) Design and Construction;
(2) Provision of Detection, Alarm and Fire Extinguishment;
(3) Fire Prevention
(4) Planning and Training programs for Isolation of Fire; and,
(5) Transfer of occupants to a place of comparative safety or evacuation of the occupants
to achieve ultimate safety.
6.2 Expected Levels Of Fire Safety In Hospitals
Hospitals shall provision for two levels of safety within their premises:
(1) Comparative Safety: which is protection against heat and smoke within the hospital
premises, where removal of the occupants outside the premises is not feasible and/or
possible. Comparative Safety may be achieved through:
(a) Compartmentation
(b) Fire Resistant wall integrated in the Flooring
(c) Fire Resistant Door of approved rating
Fire Safety in
Hospitals
6

58
Hospital Safety
(d) Pressurized Lobby, Corridor, Staircase
(e) Pressurized Shaft (All vertical openings)
(f) Refuge Area
(g) Independent Ventilation system
(h) Fire Dampers
(i) Automatic Sprinkler System
(j) Automatic Detection System
(k) Manual Call Point
(l) First Aid
(m) Fire Fighting Appliances
(n) Fire Alarm System
(o) Alternate Power Supply
(p) Public Address System
(q) Signage
(r) Fire Exit Drills and orders
(2) Ultimate Safety: which is the complete removal of the occupants from the affected area
to an assembly point outside the hospital building. Ultimate Safety may be achieved
through:
(a) Compartmentation
(b) Fire Resistant Door of approved rating
(c) Protected Lobby, Corridor, Staircase and Shaft
(d) Public Address System
(e) Signage
(f) Fire Drills and orders
6.3 Structural Elements of Fire Safety
6.3.1 Open Spaces
(1) Hospitals shall make provisions for sufficient open space in and around the hospital
building to facilitate the free movement of patients and emergency/fire vehicles.
(2) These open spaces shall be kept free of obstructions and shall be motorable.

Fire Safety in Hospitals
59
Hospital Safety
(3) Adequate passage way clearance for fire fighting vehicles to enter the hospital premises
shall be provided.
(4) The width of such entrances shall be not be less than 4.5 mtrs with clear head room not
less than 5 mtrs.
(5) The width of the access road shall be a minimum of 6 mtrs.
(6) A turning radius of 9 mtrs shall be provided for fire tender movement.
(7) Thecoveringslabofstorage/staticwatertankshallbeabletowithstandthetotalvehicular
load of 45 tone equally divided as a four point load (if the slab forms a part of path/drive
way).
(8) The open space around the building shall not be used for parking and/or any other
purpose.
(9) The Set back area shall be a minimum 4.5 mtrs.
(10) The width of the main street on which the hospital building abuts shall not be less than
12 mtrs when one end of that street shall join another street, the street shall not be
less than 12 mtr wide.
(11) The roads shall not be terminated in dead ends.
Basements
(1) Basements, if provided shall be of type-1 construction and material used shall conform
to class A material.
(2) Basements shall be used only for parking vehicles and shall be protected with automatic
sprinkler systems.
(3) Each basement shall be separately ventilated.
(4) Each vent shall have a cross-sectional area (aggregate) not less than 2.5% of the floor
area spread evenly round the perimeter of the basement.
(5) A system of air inlets and smoke outlets shall be provided clearly marked as “AIR INLET”
“SMOKE OUTLET”.
(6) Clear headroom of minimum 2.4 mtrs shall be provided for the entire basement.
(7) A minimum ceiling height of any basement shall be 0.9 mtrs and maximum 1.2 mtrs
above the average surrounding ground level.
(8) The access to the basement shall be separate from the main and alternative staircase
providing access and exit from higher floors. Where the staircase continues, in the case of

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Hospital Safety
buildings served by more than one staircase, the same shall be of enclosed type serving
as a Fire Separation between the basement and higher floors.
(9) Open ramps shall be permitted if they are constructed within the building line and surface
drainage does not enter the basement.
(10) The staircase of the basement shall be of enclosed type having fire resistance not less
than 02 hrs shall be situated at the periphery of the basement to be entered at ground
level from the open air and in such a position that smoke from any fire in the basement
shall not obstruct any exit serving the ground upper stores of the building. The staircase
shall communicate with the basement through a lobby provided with fire resisting, self
closing doors of 02 hrs resistance. Additional stairs shall be provided if travel distance
does not meet specifications given in Table 22 of the NBC.
(11) For multi-storey basements, one intake duct may serve all basement levels, but each
level basement compartment shall have a separate smoke outlet duct or ducts. The
ducts shall have the same fire resistance rating as the compartment itself.
(12) Mechanical extractors for smoke venting system from lower basement levels shall also
be provided. The actuation of the system shall be incorporated with the detection and
sprinkler systems. The performance of the system shall be superior than standard units.
(13) Mechanical extractors shall have an interlocking arrangement, so that extractors shall
continue to operate and supply fans shall stop automatically with the actuation of fire
detection system.
(14) Mechanical extractors shall be designed to permit 30 air changes per hour in case of a
fire emergency.
(15) Mechanical extractors shall have an alternate source of electricity supply.
(16) Ventilation ducts shall be integrated with the structure of the building and shall be made
out of brick masonry or reinforced cement concrete as far as possible. Wherever this
duct intersects the transformer area or an electrical switch board, fire dampers shall be
provided.
(17) The basement shall not be permitted below the ward block of a hospital.
(18) No cut outs to upper floors shall be permitted in the basement.
(19) An openable window on the external wall shall be fitted with locks that can be easily
opened.
(20) All floors shall be compartmented by a separation wall with 2 hrs fire rating, such that
each compartment shall have a surface area not exceeding 750 sq. mtr. Floors which

61
Hospital Safety
are fitted with sprinkler systems may have their surface areas increased by 50%. In long
building fire separation wall shall be at distances not exceeding 40 mtrs.
(21) Lift/Elevators shall not normally communicate with basements; if, however, Lifts are in
communication, the lift lobby of the basement shall be pressurized. A positive pressure
between 25 30 Pascal (Pa), shall be maintained in the lobby a positive pressure of
50 Pa shall be maintained in the Lift shaft. The mechanism for pressurization shall act
automaticallywiththeFireAlarm.Provisionshallbemadetooperatethesystemmanually
as well. The Lift car door shall have a Fire resistance rating equal to the Fire resistance of
lift enclosure. The material used for interior finishing shall conform to class-1 materials.
6.3.2 Means of Escape/Egress
A means of escape/egress is a continuous and unobstructed way to exit from any point in a
building or structure to a public way. Three separate and distinct parts of an escape/egress
are:
(a) The Exit access,
(b) The Exit, and
(c) The Exit discharge.
(1) A means of Escape/egress comprises the vertical and horizontal travel and shall include
intervening room spaces, doorways, hallways, corridors, passageways, balconies, ramps,
stair enclosures, lobbies, and horizontal exits leading to an adjoining building at the same
level.
(2) The exits in Healthcare facilities should be limited to doors leading directly outside the
building, internal staircases and smoke proof enclosures, ramps, horizontal exits, external
exits and exit passage.
(3) Exits shall be so arranged that they may be reached without passing through another
occupied unit.
(4) Vertical evacuation of occupants within a health care facility is difficult and time
consuming. Therefore,horizontal movement of patient is of primary importance. Because
of the time required to move patients, exit access routes should be protected against
Fire effects. Spaces open to the corridors shall neither be used for patients’ sleeping, as
treatment rooms nor for storing hazardous material.
6.3.4 Internal Staircases
(1) Internal staircases shall be constructed with non-combustible materials

62
Hospital Safety
(2) Internal stairs shall be constructed as self-contained units along an external wall of the
building constituting at least one of its sides and shall be completely closed
(3) A staircase shall not be arranged around a Lift shaft.
(4) Hollow combustible construction shall not be permitted
(5) The construction material shall have 02 hrs fire resistance.
(6) Minimum width of stairs shall be 2 mtrs.
(7) Width of the tread shall not be less than 300 mm.
(8) The height of the riser shall not be less than 150 mm and the number of stairs per flight
shall not exceed 15
(9) Handrails shall be provided at a height of 1000 mm, which is to be measured from the
base of the middle of the treads to the top of the handrails.
(10) Banisters or railings shall be provided such that the width of staircase is not reduced.
(11) Minimum head room in a passage under the landing of a staircase and under the staircase
shall be 2.2 mtrs.
(12) The staircase shall be continuous from ground floor to the terrace and the exit door at
the ground level shall open directly to the open spaces or a large lobby.
(13) The number of people in between floor landings of staircases shall not be less than the
population on each floor for the purpose of the design of the staircase.
(14) Fire/Smoke check doors shall be provided for a minimum of 2 hrs fire resistance rating.
(15) Lift openings and any other openings shall not be permitted.
(16) No electrical shaft and panel, AC ducts or gas pipelines, etc. shall pass through or open
onto the staircases.
(17) No combustible material shall be used for decoration/wall panelling in the staircases.
6.3.5 Protected Staircases
Provisions given for internal staircases shall apply to protected staircases. Also, additional
safeguards shall be provided as under:
(1) The staircases shall be enclosed by walls having 02 hrs fire resistance
(2) The external exit doors at ground floor shall open directly onto open spaces or a lobby
and Fire Smoke check doors shall be provided.
(3) Protected staircasesshall bepressurized. Underno circumstancesshall theybeconnected
to a corridor, lobby and staircase which is unpressurized.

63
Hospital Safety
(4) Pressurization systems shall be incorporated in protected staircases where the floor area
is more than 500 sq. mtr. The difference in pressurization levels between staircase and
lobby/corridor shall not be greater than 5 Pa. Where 2 stage pressurization system is in
use the pressure difference shall be as under:
(a) In normal conditions - Minimum 8Pa to 15 Pa.
(b) In emergency conditions - 50 Pa.
(5) The pressurization system shall be interconnected with the automatic/manual fire alarm
system for actuation.
6.3.6 External Staircases
(1) External staircases serving as a required means of egress shall be of permanent fixed
construction.
(2) External staircases shall be protected by a railing or guard. The height of such a guard/
railing shall not be less than 1200 mm.
(3) External staircases shall be separated from the interior of the building by walls that are
fire resistant and have fixed or self closing opening protectives’, as required for enclosed
stairs. External staircases shall extend vertically from the ground to a point 3 meters
above the topmost landing of the stairway or the roof line whichever is lower, and at-
least 3 meters horizontally.
(4) All openings below and outside the external staircases shall be protected with requisite
fire resistance rating.
(5) External staircases shall be so arranged to avoid any discomfort/obstruction for persons
with a fear of heights, from using them.
(6) External staircases shall be so arranged to ensure a clear direction of egress to the
street.
(7) External staircases shall be continuous from the ground floor to the terrace level
(8) The entrance to the external staircases shall be separate and remote from internal
staircases.
(9) External staircases shall have a straight flight with a width not less than 2 mtrs, a tread
not less than 300 mm, a riser not more than 150 mm and the number of risers shall be
limited to 15 per flight.
(10) The handrail shall have a height not less than 1000 mm and not exceeding 1200 mm.
Banisters shall be provided with a maximum gap of 150 mm.

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Hospital Safety
(11) Stair treads shall be uniformly slip resistant and shall be free of projections or lips that
could trip stair users
(12) External staircases used as fire escapes shall not be inclined at an angle greater than 45o
from the horizontal
(13) Unprotectedsteelframestaircasesshallnotbeacceptablemeansofegress;howeversteel
staircases in an enclosed compartment with a fire resistance of 2 hrs will be accepted as
means of escape.
(14) Elevators constitute a desirable supplementary facility though they are not counted as
required exits. Patient’s lifts shall have sufficient space for Stretcher trolley.
6.3.7 Horizontal Exits
A horizontal exit implies that the occupants will be transferred from one side of a partition to
the other. Essential fire safety provisions for horizontal exits are as follows:
(1) Width of the horizontal exits shall be same as the exit doorways.
(2) A horizontal exit shall be equipped with at least one fire/smoke door of minimum 2 hrs
fire resistance of self closing type. Further they shall have direct access to the fire escape
staircase for evacuation.
(3) A refuge area of 15 Sq. Mtr. or an area equivalent to 0.3 Sq Mtr. per person for the
number of occupants in two consecutive floors, whichever is more, shall be provided on
the periphery of the floor or preferably on an open air cantilever projection with at least
one side protected with suitable railings/guards with a height not less than 1 mtr.
(4) Within the aggregated area of corridors, patient rooms, treatment rooms, lounges, dining
area and other low hazards areas on each side of the horizontal exit, a single door may
be used in a horizontal exit given that the exit serves one direction only. Such doors shall
be swinging doors or a horizontal sliding door.
(5) Where there is a difference in the level between areas connected by a horizontal exit,
ramps not more than 1 in 10 mtr slope shall be provided. The steps shall not be used.
(6) Doors shall be accessible at all times from both sides.
(7) A horizontal exit involving a corridor 8 ft or more in width serving as a means of egress
from both sides of the doorway shall have the opening protected by a pair of swinging
doors arranged to swing in the opposite direction from each other.
(8) An approved vision panel is required in each horizontal exit. Center mullions are
prohibited.

65
Hospital Safety
(9) The total exit capacity of other exits (stairs, ramps, doors leading outside the building)
shall not be reduced to below one third of the amount that is required for entire area
of the building.
6.3.8 Exit Doors
(1) Every door and every principal entrance that also serves as an exit shall be so designed
and constructed that the way of Exit travel is obvious and direct.
(2) Width of the doors shall be minimum 2 mtr and other requirements of the door shall
comply with the NBC.
(3) Doors shall not be equipped with a latch or lock that requires the use of tool and/or key
from the egress side. Mental hospitals are permitted for door locking arrangements.
(4) Where door locking arrangements are provided, provision shall be made for the rapid
removal of patients by such reliable means as remote control of locks or the keys of all
locks made readily available to staff who are in constant attendance.
(5) Doors in fire resistant walls shall be so installed that they may be normally kept in an open
position, but shall close automatically. Corridor doors opening into the smoke barrier
shall be not less than 2000 mm in width. Provision shall also be made for double swing
single/double leaf type doors.
(6) Thefireresistanceratingofdoorsshallmeetfireresistanceratingofconstructionmaterial.
6.3.9 Corridors and Passageways
(1) The minimum width and height of corridors and passage ways shall be 2.4 mtr. The exit
corridor and passage ways shall have a width not less than the aggregate required width
of Exit doorways leading from them in the direction of travel to the exterior. Corridors
shall be adequately ventilated.
(2) Corridor walls shall form a barrier to limit the transfer of smoke,toxic gases and heat.
(3) Transfer grills, regardless of whether protected by fusible link operated dampers, shall
not be used in corridor walls or doors.
(4) Openings if required in corridor walls for specific use, shall be suitably protected.
(5) Fixed wired glass opening vision panel shall be permitted in corridor walls, provided
they don’t exceed 0.84 Sq Mtr in area and are mounted in steel or other approved metal
frames.

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Hospital Safety
6.3.10 Compartmentation
(1) In buildings or sections occupied by bed ridden patients where the floor area is over 280
Sq Mtr., facilities shall move patients in Hospital beds to the other side of a smoke barrier
from any part of such a building or section not directly served by approved horizontal
exits from the floor of a building to outside.
(2) Any section of the building more than 500 Sq.Mtr. shall be suitably compartmented with
fire resistance of not less than 2 hrs.
(3) Every storey used by inpatients for sleeping or treatment shall be divided into not less
than two smoke compartments
(4) Every storey having an occupant load 50 or more persons, regardless of use, shall be
divided into two smoke compartments.
(5) The size of each smoke compartment shall not exceed 500 Sq Mtrs.
6.3.11 Ramps
(1) Allrampsshallcomplywiththeapplicablerequirementsforstairwaysregardingenclosure,
capacity and limiting dimensions except in certain cases where steeper slopes may be
permitted with inclination less than 1 in 8 ( under no condition shall the slopes greater
than 1 in 8 be used).
(2) Ramps shall be surfaced with approved non skid non slippery material.
6.3.12 Service Shafts/Ducts
(1) Service shafts/ducts shall be enclosed by walls with 2 hr and doors with 1 hr fire resistance
rating. All such ducts/shafts shall be properly shielded and facilities shall be available to
control fires along these shafts/ducts at all levels.
(2) A vent opening at the top of a service shaft shall have an area between one fourth and
half of the area of the shaft.
(3) Refuge chutes shall have openings at least 1 mtr above the roof level for venting purpose
and they shall have an enclosure wall of non combustible material with fire resistance
rating of 2 hrs. They shall not be located within the staircase enclosure or service shaft
and be as far away from the exit as possible.
(4) The inspection panels and doors of air conditioning shafts shall be well fitted, with a fire
resistance rating of 1 hr.

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Hospital Safety
6.3.13 Openings in Separation Walls and Floors
(1) At the time of designing openings in separation walls and floors particular attention shall
be paid to all factors that will help limit the spread of fire through these openings and
the fire ratings of these structural members shall be maintained.
(2) For type 1 to 3 construction, a door way or opening in a separation wall on any floor
shall be limited to 5.6 Sq.Mtr. in area with a maximum height/width of 2.75 mtr. Every
wall opening shall be protected with fire resistant doors having the fire rating of not less
than 2 hrs. in accordance with accepted standards.
(3) Every vertical opening between the floors of a building shall be suitably enclosed or
protected as necessary to prevent the spread of fire, smoke and fumes such that there
is a reasonable level of safety for the occupants using the means of egress. It shall be
ensured to provide a clear height of 2100 mm in the passage/escape path of occupants
and thereby limitation of damage to the building and its contents.
6.3.14 Fire Stop or Enclosure of Openings
(1) Where openings are permitted for external walls they shall not exceed 3/4th the area
of the wall and shall be protected with fire resisting assemblies or enclosures with a fire
resistance equivalent to that of the wall in which these are situated. Such assembles and
enclosures shall also be capable of preventing the spread of smoke and fumes through
the openings so as to facilitate the safe evacuation of building in case of a fire.
(2) All openings in the floors shall be protected by vertical enclosures extending above and
below such openings. The walls of such enclosures shall have a Fire resistance of not less
than 2 hrs. and all openings therein shall be protected with a fire resisting assembly.
(3) For type 4 constructions, openings in separation walls or floors shall be fitted with 2 hrs
fire resisting assemblies.
(4) Openings in the walls and floors which provide access to building services like cables,
electrical wiring, telephone cables, plumbing pipe etc. shall be protected by enclosures
in the form of ducts/shafts with a fire resistance of not less than 2 hrs.
(5) The inspection doors for electrical shafts and ducts shall have fire resistance rating not
be less than 2 hrs and all other service shafts and ducts shall have a fire resistance rating
not less than 1 hr.
(6) Medium and low voltage wiring in shafts/ducts shall either be armoured or run through
a metal conduit. The space in between the conduit pipes and the walls/slabs shall be

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Hospital Safety
filled by a filler material that has a fire resistance rating of not less than 1 hr. The above
parameters shall not be applied on patients and goods lift well opening.
6.4 Non-Structural Elements of Fire Safety
6.4.1 Underground Static Water Tank for Fire Fighting
Provisions shall be made for a dedicated fire fighting tank, of suitable capacity as per NBC
P-IV, that shall remain full at all times. However, special attention shall be given to calculating
the actual capacity of the water tank to ensure its compatibility to the installed fire fighting
system.
(1) A four way collecting head shall be provided at an easily accessible location near the
tank.
6.4.2 Fire Pump Room
(1) Provisions shall be made to have a centralized room to house the pumps that supply
water to the various fire fighting systems. The pumps shall be as per NBC P-IV.
(2) The following pumps shall be installed:
(a) Jockey Pump: An electrically driven centrifugal single/two stage pump of 280 LPM
capacity shall be installed to maintain the system pressure upto 7 kg/cm2. They
shall be activated automatically whenever the pressure falls below 5.5 kg/cm2.
(b) Main Fire Pump: An electrically driven centrifugal Multi stage pump of 2850 LPM
capacity shall be installed to feed the Fixed Fire Fighting System. Provisions shall be
made for an alternate electric supply with a changeover switch for this pump.
(c) Diesel Fire Pump: A diesel driven prime mover multi stage pump of 2850 LPM
capacity shall be installed to feed the Fixed Fire Fighting system in case of failure
to main Fire Pump.
6.4.3 Yard Hydrant
(1) Provision shall be made to install a yard hydrant throughout the premises. The distance
between two successive hydrants shall not exceed 45 mtr.
6.4.4 Wet Rising Mains
(1) A vertical rising main of G.I. C class steel pipeline with an internal diameter of 100 mm
shall be provided from the ground floor to the top most floor of the hospital along with
hydrant outlets fitted at the height of 0.9 mtr from the flooring at each floor.

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Hospital Safety
(2) First Aid hose reels with a diameter of 25 mm and length of 45mtrs, shall be provided
at each floor fitted with a 6.5mm diameter shut off type nozzle.
(3) An air release valve shall be provided at the top of the rising main.
(4) A Fire service inlet shall be provided at the ground floor.
6.4.5 Hose Box
(1) A glass front cabinet containing two RRL type delivery hoses, each 15 mtrs in length and
with a diameter of 63mm instantaneous coupling fitted with associated branch pipe,
shall be provided.
6.4.6 Automatic Sprinkler System
(1) The entire building including the basements shall be fitted with sprinklers connected to
a gong bell/fire detection panel, which shall be located in the central control room.
(2) TheentirebuildingincludingthebasementshallbefittedwithanAutomaticFireDetection
and Alarm system comprising of smoke detectors, and manual call points which shall be
connected to the fire alarm panel in the central control room.
(3) The sprinkler, fire detection and alarm systems shall be provided with an alternative
source of power supply.
(4) Initiation of required fire alarm system shall be by manual means or by means of any
detection device.
(5) An internal audible alarm shall be incorporated.
(6) Pre-signal systems are prohibited.
(7) Corridors shall have an approved automatic detection system.
6.4.7 Emergency and Escape Lighting
(1) Emergency lighting shall be powered from a source independent of the normal lighting
system.
(2) Emergency lights shall clearly and unambiguously indicate the escape routes.
(3) Emergency lighting shall provide adequate illumination along escape routes to allow the
safe movement of persons towards and through the exits.
(4) Emergency lighting shall be provided in a manner to ensure that fire alarm call points
and fire fighting equipments provided along the escape routes are readily located.

70
Hospital Safety
(5) The horizontal luminance at floor level on the center line of an escape route shall be
not less than 10 lux. Additionally, for escape routes that are upto 2 mtrs in width, 50%
of the route width shall be lit to a minimum of 5 lux.
(6) The emergency lighting shall be activated within one second of the failure of the normal
lighting.
(7) The luminaries shall be mounted as low as possible but at least 2 mtrs above the floor
level.
(8) Emergency lighting shall be designed to ensure that a fault or failure in any open
luminaries does not further reduce the effectiveness of the system.
(9) Emergency lighting luminaries and their fittings shall be of non flammable type.
(10) The emergency lighting system shall be capable of continuous operation for a minimum
of 1 and a half hours (90 minutes).

Hospital Safety 71
7.1 Maintenance and Inspection
In a post disaster scenario, a hospital is expected to provide safe and qualitative service to its
patients. This objective requires that the hospital building (i.e. Structural Elements -SE) and
its facilities (occupational and functional components i.e. Non Structural Elements - NSE) are
safe from various natural and man-made disasters. A hospital is also expected to periodically
carry out its maintenance to ensure that the safety and service quality to patients is not
compromised.
The performance of hospitals, especially in a post disaster scenario, is largely dependent
on continuous and planned maintenance. Periodic drill of inspection is essential to ensure
compliance with the service objectives of the hospital and to ensure that the maintenance
scheduleisimplementedinrightearnest.Thisrequirespreciseplanningsothatthemaintenance
needs are predicted in advance. It also requires a well-structured maintenance program to
facilitate compliance with the maintenance objectives at optimal cost.
Itisgenerallyexpectedthattheresponsibilityformaintenancelieswiththehospitalmanagement.
However, the hospital managements often lack skill to evaluate the interdependency of the
Structural Elements (SE), functional components and occupational components (Non Structural
Elements) of a hospital. The maintenance plan in such situation reduces to minimal upkeep
of critical equipments and facilities under normal working environment. The maintenance
strategy not only fails to consider the enhanced needs due to patient surge in the event of a
disaster, but also fails to consider the likely vulnerability of the hospital building services
to the disaster. Experience has shown that intuitive maintenance strategy often results in
degradation or loss of hospital functionality during after a major disaster, when the hospital
is most critically required to cater to the consequences.
It is therefore imperative that hospitals follow maintenance policies that are holistic, consider
the various potential hazards, take into account the highest priority needs and are economical.
Maintenance and Inspection
for Safe Hospitals
7

72
Hospital Safety
Development of the maintenance policies without broad guidelines should not be left to the
hospital management or owners. It is recommended that the suggested policy guideline be
adopted by the hospitals as the basis to develop their maintenance policy.
7.2 Maintenance of Occupational and Functional Components
The occupational and functional components consist of two distinct types - The occupational
components, also sometimes known as non-structural components, are those that fulfil
important functional or aesthetic function, but do not constitute a part of the structural
system. Examples of occupational components include partition walls, false ceiling, etc. The
occupational components are often not explicitly designed to resist the various hazards in the
same way as the structural system, and are thus prone to easier damage. At the same time, their
damage, such as collapse of false ceiling, may jeopardise the use of the facility itself. Proper
maintenance and inspection of the occupational components is very important for ensuring
the safety of the hospital. Often, it is preferable to carry out inspection of the occupational
components along with that of the structural system.
The functional components are non-structural components that fulfil functional need of the
hospital. Examples of functional components include oxygen and vacuum lines. This also
includes all equipments and accessories that are used in the hospital, such as X-ray machines,
centrifuges, furniture, water coolers, Air-Conditioners, Roof Top Tanks etc.
The hospital should maintain a list of all occupational and functional components, and
prepare their maintenance schedule. For equipment, the maintenance schedule may be
prescribed by their manufacturers themselves. Care should be taken to comply with the
prescribed maintenance schedule in these cases. For functional components that do not
have a manufacturer’s schedule, the maintenance schedule should consider the importance
of the component, the number of such functional components, the vulnerability of ease of
damage, etc.
Apart from the maintenance, the equipments such as CT Scan, X-Ray machines, Tread Mills,
Path-Lab Equipments (including chemical containers), Cath-Lab Equipments, operation Theatre
Equipments, Computers and all such machines storage arrangement, which are vulnerable
to damage during a strong shaking, need to be secured in position properly.
Similarly, Roof Top Water Tanks, Air-Conditioners, Air Coolers, Water Coolers, Bio degradable/
Non Bio Degradable Waste Containers, Almirahs/racks containing equipments/chemicals,
hospital beds, side shelves etc can cause a lot of damage, during a strong shaking, to life

Maintenance and Inspection for Safe Hospitals
73
Hospital Safety
property. These elements need some arrangement to secure them in place to avoid their
movement/falling.
It has also been noticed that during a strong shaking the electrical conduits, medical gas
pipelines, water supply lines others services get damaged at the location of expansion joint.
Detailing of these services should be improved to avoid disruption of services during and post
disaster scenario.
Generally, these elements are not covered under a routine maintenance program. It is therefore
imperative that these aspects are first covered under the program of non-structural retrofitting
and then reviewed periodically under maintenance inspection through a check-list.
7.3 The Maintenance Policy Plan
Hospitalsshouldadoptastatedmaintenancepolicytoensureeffectiveresponsetodisastersand
emergencies. The maintenance policy should supplement the hospital mission in its intention
to provide adequate-level medical support as intended during disasters and emergencies.
The hospitals should also prepare their maintenance plan to address their role during major
relevant phases of disaster management activities, viz. mitigation, preparedness, response
and recovery.
7.4 Maintenance of Structural Systems
It is important that the hospital building itself must not be unsafe or appear to be unsafe
after a disaster. Structure of each hospital building has a certain capacity to resist forces due
to different causes. Vulnerability assessment of the hospital building provides the required
information regarding the likely state of damage due to a particular disastrous event. The
maintenance systems developed for the hospital shall ensure that the strength of the structural
elements (SEs) shall not further deteriorate compared to their intended level.
The structural systems of all buildings also require routine maintenance.
The maintenance systems of hospitals should also include structural safety assessment or
structural audit at pre-determined intervals (say, every five years to revalidate the structural
audit carried out earlier) using more detailed evaluation. The detailed evaluation is intended
to identify sources of structural distress, assess the need to take remedial measures and
recommend possible remedial measures. Since the structural system of hospitals are typically
of reinforced concrete, steel or masonry, different methods for safety assessment will need
to be evaluated in each case.

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Hospital Safety
7.5 Inspection of Structural Components
Key points:
• Inspection procedure and frequency shall be as per the maintenance policy.
• All structural components shall be covered in the inspection procedure.
• Inspection reporting shall be based on standard checklists.
• Inspection shall also identify situations requiring irregular (Special)
maintenance.
The inspection of structural components could be on following format:
(1) Date of detailed vulnerability assessment (structural deficiency assessment) carried
out earlier.
(2) List of deficient Structural Elements found during the earlier detailed vulnerability
assessment.
(3) List of structural elements attended during the earlier retrofitting their design
parameter achieved.
(4) Date of retrofitting completed earlier, if the same was required as per the detailed
vulnerability assessment carried out earlier.
(5) The standard (EQ Code of practice) on which the structure became compliant as
a result of the earlier retrofitting.
(6) Present condition of those structural elements strengthened during the previous
retrofitting and whether strengthening is required?
(7) Present standard (latest version of the EQ code of practice) and whether the
structure is still compliant or requires strengthening/retrofitting.
The above exercise can be in a tabular form also.
7.6 Inspection of Occupational and Functional Components
Key points:
• Inspection procedure and frequency shall be as per maintenance policy and shall
consider the vulnerability of the occupational and functional component.
• Every occupational and functional component shall be covered in the inspection
procedure.
• Standard checklists shall be prepared for implementing inspection reporting.

Maintenance and Inspection for Safe Hospitals
75
Hospital Safety
The procedure of inspection could be standardized in the following format:
(1) Whether non structural deficiency assessment has been done earlier (if not done,
the same should be done now and rectification of deficiency should be carried out
immediately)
(2) In case non structural deficiency assessment and retrofitting thereafter was carried
out earlier, what was the date of completion of the same?
(3) List of non structural elements which were attended during the previous non
structural retrofitting.
(4) What is the present status of those non structural elements attended earlier and
whether further intervention is required now?
(5) In case, further intervention is required, what are the suggestions/
recommendations?
The above exercise can be in a tabular form also.
NOTE: In case of structural and non structural changes have been carried out after previous detailed vulnerability
assessment (Deficiency assessment) and retrofitting, fresh detailed vulnerability assessment (Deficiency
assessment) shall be essential.

Hospital Safety 77
8.1 Scope
The challenges of disaster preparedness and management are twofold – one, to have a detailed
Hospital Disaster Management Plan and second, to ensure that the said plan is well practiced
and rehearsed so that it may be implemented when disaster strikes, without any lapses.
Both these issues are adequately provided for and addressed if Licensing and Accreditation
requirements are complied with.
This Chapter provides an overview of the standard Licensing and Accreditation requirements
that shall be followed by hospitals to ensure disaster preparedness.
8.2 Important Definitions
(1) Licensing: is a non-voluntary process by which an agency of government regulates.
Licensing is always based on the action of a legislative body. Once a licensing law has
been passed it becomes illegal for anyone to engage in that process unless he or she
has a license. Maintenance of licensure is an ongoing requirement for health care
organizations.
(2) Accreditation: is a voluntary process of external quality assessment based upon the
following principles -
a) It is based on published standards that are contemporary and synchronous with
the prevailing knowledge and practices
b) It is carried out by specifically trained peers
c) It is carried out by an independent and autonomous agency
d) It aims at organisational development
(3) Objectiveelement:isthatcomponentofastandardwhichcanbemeasuredobjectivelyon
a rating scale. The acceptable compliance with the measureable elements will determine
the overall compliance with the standard.
Licensing and
Accreditation
8

78
Hospital Safety
(4) Standards: are statements of expectation that define the structures and process that
must be substantially in place in an organisation to enhance the quality of care.
(5) Strategic Planning: is an organisation’s process of defining its strategy or direction and
makingdecisionsonallocatingitsresourcestopursuethisstrategy,includingitscapitaland
people. Various business analysis techniques can be used in strategic planning, including
SWOT analysis (Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats) e.g. Organisations
can have a strategic plan to become market leader in provision of cardiothoracic and
vascular services. The resource allocation will have to follow the pattern to achieve the
target. The process by which an organisation envisions its future and develops strategies,
goals, objectives and action plans to achieve that future. (ASQ).
(6) Risk Assessment: is the determination of quantitative or qualitative value of risk related
to a concrete situation and a recognised threat (also called hazard). Risk assessment is
a step in a risk management procedure.
(7) Risk Management: refers to clinical and administrative activities to identify, evaluate
and reduce the risk of injury.
(8) RiskReduction:istheconceptualframeworkofelementsconsideredwiththepossibilities
to minimise vulnerabilities and disaster risks throughout a society to avoid (prevention)
or to limit (mitigation and preparedness) the adverse impacts of hazards, within the
broad context of sustainable development. It is the decrease in the risk of a healthcare
facility, given activity, and treatment process with respect to patient, staff, visitors and
community.
(9) Occupational Health Hazards: are the hazards to which an individual is exposed to
during the course of performance of his job. These include physical, chemical, biological,
mechanical and psychosocial hazards.
Table 8.1: Basics of Licensing and Accreditation
Process Issuing
organization
Effect of
evaluation
Component/
requirements
Standards
Accreditation
(Voluntary)
Recognized body
usually an NGO
Organization Compliance with published
standard,on-siteevaluation,
compliance not required by
law and/or regulation
Setataminimum
achievable level
to stimulate
importance
Licensure
(Involuntary)
Governmental
authority
Individual or
Organization
Regulations to ensure
minimum standard , onsite
inspection, obtain on proof
of competence
Setataminimum
level

Licensing and Accreditation
79
Hospital Safety
8.3 Licensing Requirements
The requirements, structural and procedural, of all the Licenses to be complied with for running
a hospital, if followed in letter and spirit should make any health institution safe and secure
for the patient in any disaster condition.
The licensing requirements for hospitals vary in each State and also on the basis of the type
of Health Care Facility.
Hospitals shall acquire the necessary permits, certificates and approvals as follows:
1. Building Permit (From the Municipality)
2. No Objection Certificate from the Chief Fire officer
3. No Objection Certificate under Pollution Control Act
4. Radiation Protection Certificate in respect of all X-ray, Cath lab, CT Scanners, Nuclear
Medicine from BARC
5. Atomic Energy Regulatory Body approvals
6. Excise Permit to store spirits.
7. PAN number and other Tax documents
8. Permit to operate lifts under the Lifts and Escalators Act
9. Licenses under the Narcotics and Psychotropic Substances Act and License
10. Sales Tax Registration Certificate
11. Vehicle Registration Certificates for Ambulances
12. Retail and Bulk Drug License (Pharmacy)
13. Wireless Operation Certificate from Indian Post and Telegraphs(if applicable)
Hospitals shall also comply with the provisions laid down under the following Acts, Rules and
Regulations:
1. Air (Prevention and Control of Pollution) Act, 1981
2. Arms Act, 1950 (if guards have weapons)
3. Bio- Medical Management and Handling Rules, 1998
4. Cable Television Networks Act 1995
5. Central Sales Tax Act, 1956
6. Constitution of Atomic Energy Regulatory Board, 1983
7. Consumer Protection Act, 1986

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Hospital Safety
8. Contract Act, 1982
9. Copyright Act, 1982
10. Customs Act, 1962
11. Dentist Regulations, 1976
12. Drugs and Cosmetics Act, 1940
13. Electricity Act, 1998
14. Electricity Rules, 1956
15. Employees Provident Fund Act, 1952
16. ESI Act, 1948
17. Employment Exchange Act, 1969
18. Environment Protection Act, 1986
19. Equal Remuneration Act, 1976
20. Explosives Act 1884
21. Fatal Accidents Act 1855
22. Gift Tax Act, 1958
23. Hire Purchase Act, 1972
24. Income Tax Act, 1961
25. Indian Lunacy Act, 1912
26. Indian Medical Council Act and Code of Medical Ethics, 1956
27. Indian Nursing council Act, 1947
28. Indian Penal Code, 1860
29. Indian Trade Unions Act, 1926
30. Industrial Disputes Act, 1947
31. Insecticides Act, 1968
32. Lepers Act
33. Lifts and Escalators Act
34. Maternity Benefit Act, 1961
35. MTP Act, 1971
36. Mental Health Act, 1987
37. Minimum Wages Act, 1948

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Hospital Safety
38. Narcotics and Psychotropic Substances Act
39. National Building Code
40. National Holidays Under Shops Act
41. Negotiable Instruments Act, 1881
42. Payment of Bonus Act, 1965
43. Payment of Gratuity Act, 1972
44. Payment of Wages Act, 1936
45. Persons with Disability Act, 1995
46. Pharmacy Act, 1948
47. PNDT Act, 1996
48. Prevention of Food Adulteration Act, 1954
49. Protection of Human Rights Act, 1993
50. PPF Act, 1968
51. Radiation Protection Rules, 1971
52. Radiation Surveillance Procedures for Medical Applications of Radiation, 1989
53. Registration of Births and Deaths Act, 1969
54. Sale of Goods Act, 1930
55. The Transplantation of Human Organs Act and Rules
56. Tax deducted at Source Act.
57. Safe Disposal of Radioactive Waste Rules, 1987
58. Sales Tax Act.
59. The Water (Prevention and Control of Pollution) Act, 1974
8.4 Accreditation Requirements
To ensure the continued functioning of the disaster preparedness and mitigation measures
that are undertaken as per the standards mentioned in the preceding chapters of this
guideline, hospitals shall be evaluated and thereby accreditated by recognized and established
accreditation organizations, regularly. The aim of accreditation of hospitals shall be to ensure
effective and immediate response by hospital personnel to meet the needs of affected
populations during disasters. The key aspects of disaster management for which hospitals
shall be accreditated for, are detailed (but not limited to) as follows.

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Hospital Safety
8.4.1 Disaster Preparedness Measures
All hospitals shall be evaluated and accreditated for the preparedness measures undertaken by
them to respond to both internal and external disasters. Aside from having a written Hospital
Disaster Management Plan, hospitals shall also have detailed protocols for addressing the
following components of Hospital Disaster Management (details of each of these components
have been addressed in Chapter 4 – ‘Hospital Disaster Preparedness and Response’ - of this
guideline). They shall be evaluated and accreditated for the same.
(1) Coordination and Management (including the Hospital Incident Response
System)
(2) Hospital Disaster Management Plan
(3) Information, Communication and Documentation
(4) Safety and Security
(5) Human Resource Planning and Management
(6) Logistics and Supply (of medicines, equipment, blood and blood products, medical
gases, transport facilities, linen, food, etc)
(7) Financial Management
(8) Continuity of Essential Services
(9) Triage
(10) Surge Capacity and Medical Response
(11) Post Disaster Recovery
(12) Patient Handling
(13) Volunteer Involvement and Management
(14) Area Level Networking of Hospitals
(15) Coordination and Collaboration with Wider Disaster Preparedness Initiatives
8.4.2 Disaster Mitigation Measures
All Hospitals should be evaluated and accreditated for the Structural and Non-Structural
Mitigation measures required to be undertaken by them as per Chapter 5 and 6 – ‘Design and
Safety of Hospital Buildings’ and ‘Fire Safety in Hospitals’ – of this guideline. They shall also be
evaluated and accreditated for their maintenance and inspection methodology of the hospital
buildings, as detailed in Chapter 7 – ‘Maintenance and Inspection’.

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Hospital Safety
8.4.3 Licensing requirements
All Hospitals shall be evaluated and accreditated for their compliance with relevant Acts,
Rules and Regulations governing Hospitals and Healthcare Facilities. Hospitals shall also be
able furnish copies of all the necessary licenses and permits required for the facility, to the
evaluators and accreditators during an evaluation cycle.
8.4.3 Capacity Building
Hospitals shall be evaluated and accreditated on the levels of awareness of their staff on
hospital disaster management. This shall include their awareness of the potential hazards to
the facility, awareness of the hospital’s disaster response strategy and awareness of their own
role and responsibility during disasters.
Hospitals shall also be evaluated and accreditated on the training undertaken by them for
preparedness to respond to disasters in a hospital. An important aspect of training shall be the
drills undertaken by the hospital (as detailed in Chapter 4 – ‘Hospital Disaster Preparedness
and Response’ - of this guideline).

Hospital Safety 85
9.1 Scope
This guideline has been formulated to ensure that when implemented at all levels, the risks
to human life and infrastructure are minimised; and hospitals are not only better prepared
but are optimally functional immediately after disastrous events, such that they are able to
respond immediately to the medical requirements of the affected community.
It is strongly recommended that the interventions suggested in this guideline are approached
and implemented in a systematic and time bound manner, since disastrous events can happen
anytime, anywhere and at any scale. Given this, conscious efforts need to be made to achieve
the goal of ‘safer and functional hospitals’ in the country at the earliest; and towards this
end, this chapter lays down the ‘National Action Framework for Hospital Safety’, as a focused
strategy which should be followed to achieve this goal.
The Action framework has been developed on the basis of the five priority areas that need to
be addressed to ensure hospital safety. These are as follows:
Priority Area I Strengthening Institutional Mechanisms
Priority Area II Advocacy, Awareness Generation and Education
Priority Area III Capacity Building
Priority Area IV Preparedness, Response and Recovery
Priority Area V Risk Reduction and Structural Mitigation
9.2 Priority Areas and Outcomes
Priority Area I – Strengthening Institutional Mechanisms
Currently the institutional mechanisms dealing with hospitals have inadequate inputs on safety.
Therefore, priority shall be given, first and foremost, to strengthening and developing the
necessary institutional mechanisms required for ensuring high safety standards in hospitals.
Under this priority area, the necessary policies, guidelines and ministerial directives required
National Action Framework
for Hospital Safety
9

86
Hospital Safety
to enforce safety need to be developed and issued as per procedure. At the same time,
existing building codes (specifically for hospitals and their contents) accreditation and licensing
parameters need to be reviewed and updated in order to achieve high levels of safety – for all
structural, non-structural and functional parameters (Table 9.1).
By doing this, the necessary legal framework required to enforce hospital safety will be in
place, thereby making safety provisions mandatory in the design, construction and functioning
of hospitals.
Table 9.1: Priority Area I: Strengthening Institutional Mechanisms
Priority Area I Outcomes Baseline (Current
Status)
Recommended
Interventions
Timeline* Responsible
Agencies
Strengthening
Institutional
Mechanisms
Policies,
Guidelines
and ministerial
directives
enforcing safety
as a mandatory
requirement in
all hospitals in
the country are
in place
At present
safety has not
been enforced
as a mandatory
requirement in
hospitals by any
policy, guideline
or ministerial
directive.
Issue of Policies
/ Directives from
Relevant Ministry
mandating
Hospital Safety
Short - Term Lead: MoHFW
N e w C o d e s
m a n d a t i n g
higher standards
o f s a fe t y i n
the design and
construction of
Hospitals(forboth
structural and
non-structural
elements) are in
place
Current IS Codes
do not address
the continuity
of services in a
hospital during and
immediately after
disastrous events
Higher Standards
for Structural
Safety of Critical
Health Facilities
Short -
Medium Term
Lead: BIS
Higher Standards
for Architectural
Elements,
Utility Systems,
Equipment and
Contents in Health
Facilities
Short -
Medium Term
Lead: BIS
Regulatory
Framework to
ensure Hospital
Safety is in place
Current
Accreditation
Standards for
Hospitals do not
include Safety
parameters
Accreditation and
Licensing
Medium Lead: QCI/
NABH and
MoHFW
*The Action Framework suggests timelines of Short Term, Medium Term and Long Term indicative of time periods
of “within 5 years”, “5 to 10 years” and “more than 10 years (preferably not longer than 20 years)”.

National Action Framework for Hospital Safety
87
Hospital Safety
Outcome 1.1 – Policies, Guidelines and Ministerial Directives enforcing safety as a mandatory
requirement in all hospitals in the country are in place
The necessary policies, guidelines and ministerial directives that will legally enforce hospital
safety in the country need to be framed and implemented at the earliest, under the aegis
of the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare. Towards this end, some of the key policies,
guidelines, directives that need to be reviewed and updated accordingly are outlined in the
following table (Table 9.2).
Table 9.2: Activities to be undertaken under Outcome 1.1
Recommended
Intervention
Activities Timeline Responsible
Agencies
Issue of Policies
/ Directives from
Relevant Ministry
mandating Hospital
Safety
Inclusion of Hospital Safety parameters
in the Clinical Establishment Act and
Rules
in Indian Public Health Standard (IPHS)
Guidelines
in the National Health Mission and all
similar future programmes/projects
Ministry issued Directives mandating
standards for safety
Ministry issued Directives mandating
Accreditation
The above mentioned activities are only indicative and any other policy, guideline or directive
as deemed necessary, to take the agenda of hospital safety forward by the Ministry, need to
be framed and implemented.
Outcome1.2–NewCodesmandatinghigherstandardsofsafetyinthedesignandconstruction
of Hospitals (for structural elements, architectural elements, utility systems, equipment and
contents) are in place
One of the most important criteria for safety in hospitals is the structural resilience of the
hospital buildings which determines the performance of the buildings when exposed to severe
stress (like that exerted by earthquakes). Likewise, the resilience of architectural elements,
utility systems, equipment and contents within the hospital premises is also crucial in ensuring

88
Hospital Safety
continuity of services. At present, the codes being followed to design, construct and maintain
hospital structures and the architectural elements, utility systems, equipment and contents,
fall short of the required performance level i.e. ‘fully functional’. Hence it is crucial that new
codes are developed to ensure continuity in the services of hospitals during and immediately
after disastrous events.
For this purpose, the following activities need to be undertaken. (Table 9.3 and Table 9.4)
Table 9.3 : Activities to be undertaken for structural safety under Outcome 1.2
Recommended
Intervention
Agencies
Higher Standards for
Structural Safety
New codes for Hospitals (mandating
higher performance levels)
Short-
Medium
Term
Lead: BIS
Guidelines for Retrofitting of Hospitals
(mandating higher performance
levels)
Short -
Medium
Term
Lead: BIS
Table 9.4: Activities to be undertaken for the safety of Architectural Elements, Utility Systems,
Equipment and Contents under Outcome 1.2
Recommended
Intervention
Agencies
Higher Standards
for Architectural
Elements, Utility
Systems, Equipment
and Contents
New codes for architectural elements,
utilitysystems,equipmentandcontents
(mandating uninterrupted services)
Short -
Medium
Term
Lead: BIS
Development of additional guideline
documentsmandatinghigherstandards
forelementssuchasglassfacades,false
ceilings, pipelines, etc.
Short -
Medium
Term
Lead: BIS
Development of guidelines for
Retrofitting Architectural Elements,
Utility Systems, Equipment and
Contents
Short -
Medium
Term
Lead: BIS
Outcome 1.3 – Regulatory Framework to ensure Hospital Safety is in place
Aside from framing and implementing the necessary policies, guidelines, ministerial directives
and building codes to enforce safety parameters in hospitals, it is also important to develop

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Hospital Safety
appropriate regulatory mechanisms that will ensure the continued adherence to the said
safety parameters. As already mentioned as a part of Outcome 1.1, the Ministry needs to issue
directives to make regular licensing and accreditation a mandatory requirement for continued
functioning of hospitals post disastrous events. However, only issuing directives to mandate
licensing and accreditation will not be enough. In order to ensure high standards of safety in
hospitals, the current standards that need to be fulfilled for hospitals to receive legitimate
licenses and accreditation certificates need to be reviewed and upgraded to incorporate safety
standards.
The following activities in Table 9.5 are suggested in this regard.
Recommended
Intervention
Agencies
Accreditation and
Licensing
Revision/ Up-gradation of Standards
required to be met for Licensing to
ensure safety in Hospitals
Short - Term MoHFW or Agency
designated by
MoHFW
Revision/Up-gradation of Accreditation
Standards to Incorporate Safety
measures that ensure the continuity
of services
Medium -
Long Term
MoHFW or Agency
designated by
MoHFW
Accreditation of all hospitals Long Term MoHFW or Agency
designated by
MoHFW
Priority Area II – Advocacy, Awareness Generation and Education
Attheindividual level,exceptforasmall proportion ofthemedical fraternitywho arevoluntarily
involved in Hospital Disaster Management, the larger group of stakeholders have limited
or no knowledge and/or interest in hospital safety and its constituent concepts. However,
if Hospital Safety is to become a topic of national concern then very focused and strategic
campaigns for advocacy, awareness generation and education (as described in Table 9.6 and
the following section) need to be undertaken in the country, so that a culture of safety prevails
in the hospital sector.

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Hospital Safety
Table 9.6: Priority Area II: Advocacy, Awareness Generation and Education
Priority Area
II
Outcomes Baseline
(Current Status)
Recommended
Interventions
Agencies
Advocacy,
Awareness
Generation
and
Education
Key Decision makers
(at ministerial and
institutional level)
are aware and are in
agreement that Safety
parametersforhospitals
needtobeincorporated
at all levels and as a
part of all processes of
healthcare delivery in
the country
Currently, a
very small
proportion
of the
stakeholders
are aware of
the need for
hospital safety
Advocacy for
Hospital Safety
Short -
Term
Lead:
MoHFW
All stakeholders at
the grass-root level,
engaged in design,
construction and
operation of hospitals
areawareoftheconcept
of Hospital Safety and
its need
Awareness
Generation for
Hospital Safety
Short –
Medium
– Long
Term
Lead:
MoHFW
Incorporation
of 'Safe
Hospital'
concepts in
medical, public
health, hospital
administration,
engineering,
architecture,
paramedic
and nursing
curriculum
Short -
Term
Lead:
MoHFW
Outcome 2.1 – Key Decision Makers (at ministerial and institutional level) are aware and
are in agreement that safety parameters for hospitals need to be incorporated at all levels
and as a part of all processes of healthcare delivery in the country
The attention and support of key decision makers at the ministerial level will be required to
ensure that hospital safety parameters are mainstreamed in such a manner that “safe and

91
Hospital Safety
functional hospitals” become a natural by-product of the health sector in the country. To
achieve this, a robust advocacy campaign needs to be designed.
Towards this end, the following activities need to be undertaken.
Recommended
Intervention
Agencies
Advocacy for Hospital
Safety
Development of Advocacy Strategy Short - Term Lead: MoHFW
Preparation of IEC Material for
Advocacy
High Level Advocacy Meetings at
relevant ministries and institutions
(eg. CPWD, IITs, NIITs, Architectural
Colleges, Medical Colleges and
other Institutions running Hospital
Administration courses, etc.)
Outcome 2.2 – All stakeholders at the grass-root level, engaged in design, construction and
operation of hospitals, are aware of the concept of Hospital Safety and its need
To bring about a culture of safety into the hospital sector, it is necessary to make everyone who
is engaged in the sector, either directly or indirectly (such as doctors, nurses, administrators,
attendants, engineers, architects and other support staff like electricians, plumbers, etc.)
aware of the basic concepts of safety with respect to hospitals. Towards this end well-planned
awareness generation campaigns needs to be undertaken. Activities recommended in this
direction are as represented in Table 9.8.
Table 9.8: Awareness Generation Activities to be undertaken under Outcome 2.2
Recommended
Intervention
Agencies
AwarenessGeneration
for Hospital Safety
DevelopmentofAwarenessGeneration
Strategy
Preparation of IEC Material for
Awareness Generation
Grass-RootLevelAwarenessGeneration
Exercises
Short -
Medium
Term
Lead: MoHFW

92
Hospital Safety
However, hospitals being entities that demand highly specialised and scientific use and
management of space, an awareness generation campaign alone will not suffice to develop
the skills required to make hospitals safe. Decisive steps need to be taken to incorporate
‘Hospital Safety’ concepts into the curriculum of relevant academic courses that are pursued by
professionals involved in the design, construction and operation of hospitals. Some suggestive
professional courses in which this inclusion can be made is given in Table 9.9 below.
Table 9.9: Activities to be undertaken for Education under Outcome 2.2
Recommended
Intervention
Agencies
Incorporation of 'Safe
Hospital' concepts in
curriculum
Incorporation of hospital safety
parameters in design and construction
curriculum for engineering
Incorporation of hospital safety
parameters in design and construction
curriculum for architecture
Incorporation of hospital preparedness
measures in curriculum of Hospital
Administration
Also in the academic curriculum of
nursing, public health and paramedic
cadres
Priority Area III – Capacity Building
There is a need to build capacities for Preparedness and Mitigation, of practitioners who
are currently engaged in designing, constructing, maintaining and operating hospitals, so
that current practices which are leading to unsafe hospitals are arrested and reversed with
immediate effect; and proactive measures can be taken to achieve the goal of ‘safe and
functional hospitals’ without any delay.
Table 9.10: Priority Area III: Capacity Building
Priority Area
III
Outcomes Baseline
(Current Status)
Recommended
Interventions
Agencies
Capacity
Building
Capacities of
engineers, architects
and hospital
Currently, very
few hospital
administrators
Capacity
Building for
Preparedness
Short -
Medium
Term
Lead:
MoHFW

93
Hospital Safety
administrators
engaged in designing,
constructing,
maintaining and
operating hospitals are
developed to address
and include safety
parameters to ensure
safe and functional
hospitals
have the
required
capacities for
preparedness
Currently, no
engineer or
architect have
the capacity
to design,
construct
and maintain
hospitals to
meet higher
performance
levels
Capacity
Building for
Mitigation
Short -
Medium
Term
Lead:
MoHFW
Partnered
with:
IITs and
CPWD.
Outcome 3.1 – Capacities of engineers, architects and hospital administrators engaged in
designing, constructing, maintaining and operating hospitals are developed to address and
include safety parameters to ensure safe and functional hospitals
A series of ministry driven trainings need to be undertaken to build the capacities of hospital
administrators, hospital staff, engineers and architects for preparedness and mitigation,
respectively. However, before these trainings are undertaken, a preliminary round of capacity
building may also be necessary at the relevant Ministries to ensure that senior ministry officials
are made aware of the content of the trainings, so that the future policy level initiatives are
undertaken along the same lines. Detailed activities to be undertaken for both preparedness
and mitigation have been presented in Table 9.11 and 9.12.
Table 9.11: Capacity Building activities to be undertaken for Preparedness under Outcome 3.1
Recommended
Intervention
Agencies
Capacity Building for
Preparedness
Development of Capacity Building
Strategy
Capacity Building at Key Ministry
Levels
Capacity Building for Hospital
Administrators
Short -
Medium Term
Lead: MoHFW
Capacity Building for Hospital Staff Short -
Medium Term
Lead: MoHFW

94
Hospital Safety
Table 9.12: Capacity Building activities to be undertaken for Mitigation under Outcome 3.1
Recommended
Intervention
Agencies
Capacity Building for
Mitigation
Development of Capacity Building
Strategy
Partnered
with: IITs
CPWD
Capacity Building at Key Ministry
Levels
Partnered
with: IITs
CPWD
Capacity Building for Engineers Short –
Medium
Term
Lead: MoHFW
Partnered
with: IITs
CPWD
Capacity Building for Architects Short -
Medium
Term
Lead: MoHFW
Partnered
with: IITs
CPWD
Capacity Building of Support Services
(Eg. Plumbers, Electricians, etc.)
Short –
Medium
Term
Lead: MoHFW
Partnered
with: IITs
CPWD/NIITs/
ITIs
Priority Area IV – Preparedness, Response and Recovery
Most of the mitigation measures that will be required for hospital safety will take time to
come into effect, by virtue of the processes that need to be followed to put them in place. In
the meantime, preparedness measures (outlined in Table 9.13), that address the processes
involved in the functioning of hospitals, will play a crucial role in reducing the impact of hazards
and saving hospitals from the imminent loss of life and injuries, should a hazard manifest, in
the interim period.

95
Hospital Safety
Table 9.13: Priority Area IV: Preparedness, Response and Recovery
Priority Area IV Outcomes Baseline
(Current Status)
Recommended
Interventions
Agencies
Preparedness,
Response and
Recovery
All Hospitals in the
country will have
well documented
Disaster
Management Plans,
which are regularly
tested and updated
Most hospitals
do not
have a well
documented
Disaster
Management
Plan. Those
who do have
a plan, do so
only to meet
accreditation
standards,
which are
not tested
and updated
regularly.
Hospital
Disaster
Management
Planning
Short -
Term
Lead:
Individual
Hospitals
Testing Hospital
Disaster
Management
Plans
Ongoing Lead:
Individual
Hospitals
A comprehensive
system of Hospital
Networks are
established to
enable resource
sharing during
emergencies
Currently
there is no
Hospital
Networking
system
Hospital
Networking
and
Coordination
Short –
Term
Lead:
MoHFW
Outcome 4.1 – All hospitals in the country will have well documented Disaster Management
Plans, which are regularly tested and updated
The first step of preparedness, after building the capacities of the administrators and staff is to
formulate detailed preparedness, response and recovery plans (as given in Table 9.14) for the
hospitals. While a standardized format will be developed at the national level as a suggestive
template, each hospital should adapt the template to develop plans best suited to their
respective circumstances and needs. These plans should be written documents, preferably in
the language understood by all levels of staff in the hospital and should be accessible to all.

96
Hospital Safety
Table 9.14: Activities to be undertaken for Hospital Disaster Management Planning under
Outcome 4.1
Recommended
Intervention
Agencies
Hospital Disaster
Management
Planning
Formulation of Hospital Incident
Command Systems
Short –
Term
Lead:Individual
Hospitals
FormulationofHospitalCommunication
Plans
Short - Term Lead:Individual
Hospitals
Formulation of Hospital Evacuation
Plans
Short –
Term
Lead:Individual
Hospitals
Formulation of Hospital Response
Plans
Short –
Term
Lead:Individual
Hospitals
Formulation of Hospital Recovery
Plans
Short –
Term
Lead:Individual
Hospitals
Review/Updation of Plans Ongoing Lead:Individual
Hospitals
Once the detailed plans for preparedness, response and recovery have been developed by each
hospital to meet their own necessities, based on their unique circumstances, it is important to
remember that these plans are never completely final. In other words, the plan once written,
needs to be tested on ground (through the activities mentioned in Table 9.15) and accordingly
the short-falls/gaps need to be reduced by altering and updating the same. Through this process
of trial and error, the plans will be able to represent the reality on the ground better.
Another reason for testing plans on a regular basis, is to keep the plans alive in the minds of
the hospital staff, who will ultimately put it into action, during the time of an actual exigency.
However, at times like this, if people are unused to/unaware of what to do, how to do and
when to respond to a situation, as a matter of course, they will fail to respond and recover
from the hazard event and will remain unprepared.
Table 9.15: Activities to be undertaken for Testing Hospital Disaster Management Plans under
Outcome 4.1
Recommended
Intervention
Activities Timeline Responsible Agencies
TestingHospitalDisaster
Management Plans
Table-Top Exercises Ongoing Lead: Individual Hospitals
Preparedness Drills Ongoing Lead: Individual Hospitals

97
Hospital Safety
Outcome 4.2 – A comprehensive system of Hospital Networks are established to enable
resource sharing during emergencies
One of the key directives of this guideline is that hospitals establish a comprehensive system
of hospital networks so that at the time of emergencies, hospitals can share resources freely
and thereby adequately respond to the medical requirements of the affected community. This
will also help in easing the disproportionate and/or high demand placed on nodal hospitals,
while the capacities of other hospitals in the vicinity are under-utilised or unutilised altogether,
which results in unnecessary loss of lives, that can be avoided if timely medical care is available.
Activities recommended in this regard are presented in Table 9.16.
Recommended
Intervention
Agencies
Hospital Networking
and Coordination
Identify plausible groups of hospitals
that may be networked
Short - Term Lead: MoHFW/
State Govt.
Development of MoU's for Resource
Sharing among networked hospitals
State Govt.
Formally establish networks of
hospitals
State Govt.
Priority Area V – Risk Reduction and Structural Mitigation
One of the main concerns with regard to the safety of hospitals is that hospital structures (i.e.
the buildings) are themselves vulnerable to collapse in the face of extreme forces (such as those
experienced during earthquakes). Therefore, to ensure the safety of hospitals and achieve the
goal of ‘safer and functional hospitals’, mitigation measures (as presented in Table 9.17) need
to be undertaken in a programmatic manner by the Ministry on an urgent basis.
Table 9.17: Priority Area V: Mitigation
Priority Area V Outcomes Baseline
(Current Status)
Recommended
Interventions
Agencies
Mitigation All New Hospitals
(after a defined
date) will be built
Currently all
hospitals and
their contents
New Hospital
Structures
Variable Lead:
MoHFW/
State
Govts

98
Hospital Safety
to meet higher
performance
standards
(new and old)
only meet the
performance
level of
'collapse
prevention'
Lead:
MoHFW
/ State
Govts
All Existing Hospitals
will be retrofitted
to meet higher
performance
standards
Existing
Hospital
Structures
Long -
Term
Lead:
MoHFW
/ State
Govts
Cyclical Lead:
MoHFW
/ State
Govts
All Architectural
Elements, Utility
Systems, Equipment
and Contents in
Hospitals to be built
and/or retrofitted to
higher performance
levels to remain
fully functional
Architectural
Elements,
Utility Systems,
Equipment and
Contents in
Hospitals
Short -
Medium
Term
Lead:
MoHFW
/ State
Govts
Short -
Term
Lead:
MoHFW
/ State
Govts
Outcome5.1–Allnewhospitals(afteradefineddate)willbebuilttomeethigherperformance
standards
Once new codes requiring better performance, are made available by the BIS for hospitals, the
Ministry will identify a date, after which all new hospitals will have to be built mandatorily to
meet the new standards, thus ensuring the safety of these structures in the face of extreme
forces. Table 9.18 represents the activities that need to be undertaken towards this end.
Recommended
Intervention
Agencies
New Hospital
Structures
Building new hospitals to new
(higher) standards
Short - Medium
Term
Lead: MoHFW
/ State Govts
Maintenance and Inspection for
continued adherence to higher
standards
Ongoing Lead: MoHFW
/ State Govts
Outcome 5.2 – All Existing Hospitals will be retrofitted to meet higher performance
standards

99
Hospital Safety
Since, most of the current hospital structures are vulnerable to collapse when exposed to
extreme forces, it is crucial that they are retrofitted to meet the higher standards set for new
hospitals. Towards this end the activities outlined in Table 9.19 will be undertaken.
Recommended
Intervention
Agencies
Existing Hospital
Structures
Retrofittingexistinghospitalsstructures
to new (higher) standards
Long - Term Lead:MoHFW/
State Govts
Maintenance and Inspection for
continued adherence to higher
standards
Ongoing Lead:MoHFW/
State Govts
Outcome5.3–AllArchitecturalElements,UtilitySystems,EquipmentandContentsinHospitals
to be built and/or retrofitted to higher performance levels to remain fully functional
Retrofitting hospital structures is a time-consuming and lengthy process. In the meantime,
Architectural Elements, Utility Systems, Equipment and Contents that comprise 70 percent
of the structure of hospitals, should be retrofitted/built so that disruption of services can be
avoided. This intervention (Table 9.20) can be undertaken with immediate effect.
Recommended
Intervention
Agencies
Architectural
Elements, Utility
Systems, Equipment
and Contents in
Hospitals
Retrofitting Architectural Elements,
Utility Systems, Equipment and
Contents in existing hospitals
structures to new (higher) standards
Short -
Medium
Term
Lead: MoHFW/
State Govt.
Designing and setting up Architectural
Elements, Utility Systems, Equipment
andContentsinnewhospitalsstructures
to new (higher) standards
In conclusion, it may be said that the National Disaster Management Guidelines on Hospital
Safety are setting new standards for Hospitals in the country with the sole aim of protecting life
and preventing the loss of valuable resources. And, to make these Guidelines implementable
in the most logical and judicious manner possible, the National Action Framework on Hospital
Safety has been developed. By following the systematic flow of activities given in the Action
framework, the ultimate goal of “safer and functional hospitals” will be achieved.

101
Hospital Safety
Table 3.1 Key Approaches and Activities for Awareness Generation for Hospital Safety
Target Group Topics to be
covered
Communication
Approach
IEC material Awareness Exercises
Hospital
Administration

Management
Sensitization on the
need for hospital
safety
Awareness on
vulnerability/risks
Awareness on
structural safety/
retrofitting/
hazard resistant
construction
Awareness on non
structural safety
measures
Awareness on Fire
Safety
Awareness on
training needs of
health professionals
Awareness on
preparation of
Hospital Disaster
Management Plan
Awareness on
various regulations
on hospital Safety
Audits
Nondirective
participatory
communication,
two-way
communication
to assess the
situation and
jointly define
objectives and
design strategy
Education and
Training, aimed
at increasing
knowledge
and improving
professional
skills
Posters, Banners,
Leaflets, Brochures on
Hospital Safety
Information material on
Retrofitting, hazard safe
construction practices
(structural and non-
structural)
Presentations on
Hospital Safety/Exit
Routes/Hospital DM
plan
Advocacy materials
(a) emergency
preparedness; (b)
epidemic and pandemic
prevention and control;
(c) disaster warning; (d)
safety measures
Training material on
first-aid, preparation of
DM Plans
Hospital Safety Tool-kit
Who can do what?
Basic dos and don’ts
during disasters
Using Annual Meetings/
Conferences as platform
to talk about Hospital
safety and distributing IEC
Material
Awareness Session for
Hospital management on
structural/non structural
safety of hospitals with help
of experts
Awareness session on
preparation of DM Plan
Advocacy with stakeholders
on elements of hospital
safety
Implementing safe structure
features (structural and
non-structural) to ensure
facilities are strengthened,
introducing mandatory
certification for doctors/
staff in hospital safety
trainings
Publishing messages/
advertisement on hospital
safety in magazines/journals
Annexures – 1
Refers to Chapter 3

102
Hospital Safety
covered
Communication
Approach
Putting IEC material in the
reception, hospital bulletin
boards
Information dissemination
through state governments
and community volunteers
Appropriate training
with provisions for clear
roles, cooperation and
accountability to be
established and mock drills
to be conducted regularly to
test preparedness level
Table Top exercises and
demonstrative mock drills
Medical
Professionals
( D o c t o r s ,
Nurses) and
Paramedical
Staff
Sensitizationonneed
for hospital safety
Awareness sessions
o n D i s a s t e r /
EmergencyResponse
/Rescue, First-aid,
trauma counseling
Purpose of DM
plans
Mock drills
K n o w l e d g e o n
various exit routes,
Emergency numbers
U s e o f F i r e
Extinguishers
A w a r e n e s s o n
different types of
training as required
for the medical
professionals and
paramedic staff
Information
dissemination
and campaigns,
t a r g e t e d
dissemination
of information
to fill specific
k n o w l e d g e
gaps
Information,
Education and
Communication
( I E C ) ,
disseminating
i n fo r m a t i o n
t h r o u g h
various forms
of media such
as knowledge
p r o d u c t s ,
newspapers,
radio, television
Po s t e rs , l e a f l e t s ,
publicitymaterialsuchas
pens, jackets, caps with
messages on hospital
safety
Training modules on
disaster/emergency
response and rescue,
F i r s t- a i d , Tra u m a
Counseling
Videos on Hospital
Safety
Posters on Exit routes/
Emergency Numbers
Awareness Sessions on basic
life saving skills, trauma
counseling
Mock Drills
Awareness sessions on
basic dos and don’ts during
disasters
Launching mass awareness
campaigns during functions/
doctor’s day

103
Annexures
Hospital Safety
covered
Communication
Approach
S t u d e n t s /
t e a c h e r s
( M e d i c a l ,
engineering /
architectural
students)
Sensitizationonneed
for hospital safety
Importance of Safe
Structures
Awareness on basic
life saving skills
Basic Dos and Don’ts
during disasters
Information
dissemination
and campaigns,
t a r g e t e d
dissemination
of information
to fill specific
k n o w l e d g e
gaps
Information,
Education and
Communication
( I E C ) ,
disseminating
i n fo r m a t i o n
t h r o u g h
various forms
of media such
as knowledge
p r o d u c t s ,
newspapers,
radio, television
Posters
Banners
Leaflets
Videos
Develop modules/
courses with the help
of professionals to
incorporate emergency
preparedness in to
curriculum and integrate
the knowledge and
practice of safe health
facilities (architecture
a n d e n g i n e e r i n g
courses)
Basic dos and don’ts
during disasters
AwarenessCampaignsduring
annual day/College fairs
Training session on life saving
skills
Street plays by students
Awareness session on need
for safe hospitals
Policy Makers Sensitizationonneed
for safe hospitals
Advocacy on hospital
safety so as to
include it in larger
developmentagenda
of government
A d v o c a c y ,
d i r e c t e d a t
i m p r o v i s i n g
p o l i c i e s o n
safety of lifeline
structures.
Posters
Advertisements on
Newspapers
Tool-kit on Hospital
Safety
Launching awareness
campaign on hospital safety
in associationwithconcerned
ministry
Sensitizationworkshopofkey
stakeholders
Presentations on good
practices of other countries

104
Hospital Safety
Capacity Building for Hospital Managers
Hospital managers and members of Hospital Disaster Management Planning Committee
(HDMPC) should extensively be trained to understand the basic concepts of healthcare disaster
preparedness, roles of District/State/ National DM authorities and Emergency Management
Exercises.
They should also keep an account of the unique need of healthcare systems faced with disasters
( recent National and International), an analysis of what went right and what went wrong and
understand whether these lessons could be interpreted in their institutional perspective.
The core areas of training should include but not limited to
1. Terminologies in Disaster Medicine
2. Hazard Vulnerability Analysis and use of HVA tool(s)
3. Overview of Hospital Incident Response System and Use of HIRS Templates job
action sheets (JAS).
4. Hospital Emergency Operation Planning
5. Disaster Management in the ICU
6. Managing Medical Operations in Disaster
7. Inter-agency Communication in Disaster
8. Handling Logistics in hospital disaster planning
9. Radiation Nuclear Incident medical preparedness
10. Triage
11. Surge handling and surge capacity planning
12. Public Relation in healthcare setups during disasters
13. Crisis Communication in healthcare setups during disasters
Annexures – 2
Refers to Chapter 4

105
Annexures
Hospital Safety
14. Mental Well Being in Disasters
15. HR issues in disasters
16. Handling children elderly in disasters
17. Disaster Quality control
18. Business Continuity Recovery
19. Hospital Evacuation
20. Setting up alternate care area and establishing crisis standard of care
21. Biological Incidents Pandemics –Special needs
22. Chemical safety in healthcare
23. Handling Casualties in Disasters
24. Documentation in Disasters
25. Hospital Safety
26. Hospital to community approach to cluster based integration in DM
27. Disaster Drills, Table top exercises, Emergency management exercises (EMEx)
Each member; depending on the Job Action Sheets (JAS) as defined in the HDMP should at-
least undergo training and retraining as specified.
Level of
Training
Description Credit
Hours
Course Name Certification
Validity
(In Years)
Qc Metrics and
Monitoring
Basic
(Awareness)
•
Personal
preparedness
•
Staff role within
department
8 Hospital
Disaster
Management
(HDM) BASIC
2 Pre Test
Post Test
Mid Level •
Leadership level
within department
•
Department role
within hospital
24 HDM
INTERMEDIATE
2 Pre Test
Post Test
Evaluation of
independent
completion of
HVA Exercise
Population of
HIRS tree

106
Hospital Safety
Level of
Training
Description Credit
Hours
Course Name Certification
Validity
(In Years)
Qc Metrics and
Monitoring
Group
performance
of Table top
HIRS Exercise
( 1 external
and 1 internal
scenario)
Advanced
Level
•
Leadership level
within hospital
•
Hospital role within
community
48 HDM
ADVANCED
1 Pre Test
Post Test
Evaluation of
independent
completion of
HVA Exercise
Population of
HIRS tree
Group
performance
of Table top
HIRS Exercise
( 2 external
and 2 internal
scenarios)
Evaluation
of Sample
planning
Performance
Monitoring in a
Hospital Drill

107
Annexures
Hospital Safety
Capacity Building Matrix for Doctors and Senior Nurses
Initial surge areas in an MCI consist of the Emergency Department (ED), Operating Room
(OR), Post-Operative Care Unit (POCU) and Intensive Care Units (ICU). Staffing will need to
be supported in these clinical treatment areas. Clinical and other support staff may also be
required. It is within the higher acuity level treatment areas where dedicated staff may be
needed to provide safe, quality care.
The training grid will also be guided by the type of disaster the hospital is anticipating as per
hospital, District, State HVA. For example
Types of Medical and Nursing Staffing Needed per MCI Type
MCI
Category
Trauma
Surgeon
General
Surgeon
Orthopaedic
Surgeon
Neurological
Thor
Surgeon
Vacs
Surgeon
Internal
Medicine
Pulmonary
Infectious
Disease
Paediatric
OB-GYN
Hem-Oncology
Radiation
Oncology
Behavioural
Health
Chemical X X X X X X X
Bio X X X X X X
Radiological X X X X X X
Nuclear X X X X X X X X X
Explosive X X X X X X X X X X X
Cyclone X X X X X X X X X X
Flooding X X X X X
Earthquake X X X X X X X X X X
Fire X X X X X X X
Traffic
Accident
X X X X X X X X X X X
Annexures – 3
Refers to Chapter 4

108
Hospital Safety
Training on specific injuries / medical problems should also be guided by HVA report. For
example
MCI
Category
Blunt
Trauma
Penetrating
Trauma
Burns
Crush
Exacerbation
of
Chronic
Disease
Gastrointestinal
(GL)
Illness
Respiratory
Impact
Submersion
Injury
Infected
Wounds
Contaminated
Wounds
Chemical X X X
Biological X X X X X
Radiological X X X X
Nuclear X X X X X X X X
Explosive X X X X X X X
Cyclone X X X X X X X X
Flooding X X X X X X
Earthquake X X X X X X X X
Fire X X
Plane Crash X X X X
Bus Crash X X X
Traffic
Accident
X X X X X X
Mass
Shooting
X X
The training needs should also be guided by the area in which the physician is assigned to.
For example
Acuity Level Staffing Capabilities
Red
Advanced Cardiac Life Support (ACLS) / Basic Life Support (BLS),
Paediatric Advanced Life Support (PALS), Trauma certification and/or
ED experience; Critical Care Certification and/or experience.
Yellow
ACLS (preferred but not required); BLS; Speciality experience if needed
(psychosocial support, paediatrics, Obstetrics (OB), other)
Green
Basic Life Support (BLS); Speciality experience if needed (paediatric, obstetric,
wound, orthopaedic, other).

109
Annexures
Hospital Safety
Each physician depending on the Job Action Sheets (JAS) as defined in the HDMP should also
undergo training and retraining as specified.
TRAINING
COMPONENT
Hospital
Incident
Response
(HIRS)
Information,
Communication
and
documentation
Triage Surge
Capacity
and
handling
Continuity
of
Essential
Services
Psychosocial
First Aid
DOCTORS
Emergency
Medicine
Intensivist
General
Surgeons
Neurosurgeons
Orthopedic
Surgeons
Anesthesiologist
Internists
Mental Health
Radiologist
Hospitalists
OBGYN
Pediatrics
Junior Doctors

110
Hospital Safety
Knowledge and Skill Matrix of Nurses and Support Staff
Nurses
Training
Component
Hospital
Incident
Response
(Hirs)
Information,
Communication
And
Documentation
Triage Basic Life
Support
Advanced
Life
Support
Continuity
Of
Essential
Services
Trauma
Care And
Blood
Bank
Training
NURSES
Basic Level
Intermediate
Level
Highest Level
Housekeeping Staff
TRAINING
COMPONENT
Hospital
Incident
Response (HIRS)
Communication First Aid,
immobilization
and transport of
injured
Basic Life
support
House keeping staff
Basic Level
Intermediate Level
Highest Level
Annexures – 4
Refers to Chapter 4

111
Annexures
Hospital Safety
Security
TRAINING
COMPONENT
Hospital
Incident
Response
(HIRS)
Information and
Communication
Crowd
and traffic
management
Basic
Life
support
Fire fighting
and rescue
training
Intrinsic co-
ordination
SECURITY
Basic Level
Intermediate
Level
Highest Level

112
Hospital Safety
Building Information Form
The Building Information Form shall include the following information:
a) Building address . . . . . . . . . . . ..Pin Code . . ….....
b) Owner or person in-charge of building — Name, Address and Telephone Number.
c) Fire Safety Officer and Deputy Fire Safety Officer Name and Telephone Number.
d) Certificate of occupancy. Location where posted, or duplicate attached.
e) Height, area, class of construction
f) Number, type and location of fire stairs and/ or fire towers
g) Number, type and location of horizontal exits or other areas of refuge.
h) Number, type, location and operation of elevators and escalators.
i) Interior fire alarms, or alarms to central stations.
j) Communications systems and/or walkie talkie, telephones, etc.
k) Standpipe system; size and location of risers, gravity or pressure tank, fire pump,
name of employee with certificate of qualification and number of certificate.
l) Sprinklersystem;nameofemployeewithCertificateofFitnessandcertificatenumber.
Primary and secondary water supply, fire pump and areas protected.
m) Special extinguishing system, if any, components and operation.
n) Average number of persons normally employed in building. Daytime and night
time.
o) Average number of handicapped people in building. Location. Daytime and night
time.
Annexures – 5
Refers to Chapter 6

113
Annexures
Hospital Safety
p) Number of persons normally visiting the building. Daytime and night time.
q) Service equipment such as:
i. Electric power, primary, auxiliary;
ii. Lighting, normal, emergency, type and location;
iii. Heating, type, fuel, location of heating unit;
iv. Ventilation — with fixed windows, emergency means of exhausting heat and
smoke;
v. Air-Conditioning Systems — Brief description of the system, including ducts
and floors serviced;
vi. Refuse storage and disposal; Fire-fighting equipment and appliances,
vii. other than standpipe and sprinkler system; and
viii. Other pertinent building equipment.
r) Alterations and repair operations, if any, and the protective and preventive measures
necessary to safeguard such operations with attention to torch operations.
s) Storage and use of flammable solids, liquids and/ or gases.
t) Special occupancies in the building and the proper protection and maintenance
thereof. Places of public assembly, studios, and theatrical occupancies.

114
Hospital Safety
Instructions for Fire Safety for Hospital Staff
Instructions for Personal Safety
All Hospital Staff should know:
(1) ThelocationofMOEFApushbuttonfirealarmboxes.Theyshouldreadtheoperating
instructions.
(2) Location of the fire extinguishers, hose reel, etc. provided on their respective
floors.
(3) The nearest exit from their work area,
(4) Their assembly point.
Matters to be reported to the Fire/Deputy Fire Warden
(1) If any exit door/route is obstructed by loose materials, goods, boxes, etc.
(2) If any staircase door, lift lobby door does not close automatically, or does not close
completely.
(3) If any push button fire alarm point or fire extinguisher is obstructed, damaged or
apparently out of order.
Instructions for Fire Incidents
During any fire incident in the hospital premises, staff should:
(1) Breaktheglassofthenearestfirealarm(iftheyarethefirstonestodiscoverthefire)
(2) Attack the fire with fire extinguishers/hose reel provided on the floor (after taking
guidance from the Fire Warden)
(3) Evacuate, as directed by the fire warden.
Annexures – 6
Refers to Chapter 6

115
Annexures
Hospital Safety
Accreditation Standards-Useful Resources and Tools
NABH Accreditation Standards addresses all the requirements related to hospital safety, risk
management, disaster planning, monitoring and evaluation under various chapters. These
standards provide a framework for quality assurance and quality improvement and focus on
patient safety, employee safety, community and environment safety and quality of patient
care.
NABH Accreditation Standards for Hospitals 3rd Edition in a Nutshell contains 636 Objective
Elements under 102 Standards.
The standards encompass patient safety aspects in all the 10 chapters. However, the chapter
on Facility Management Safety (FMS) provides criteria for implementation of Emergency
Management Plans. The intent of this Chapter FMS is to provide safe and secure environment
for patients, development and implementation of Plans for emergencies within the facilities
and the community and well established Program for clinical and support service equipment
and management. Standard FMS 6, FMS 7 FMS 8 include requirements for developing,
maintaining, and implementing a comprehensive Emergency Operations Plan that covers the
critical areas in emergency management.
Emergency Response capacity and Preparedness of a hospital can be achieved by complying
with NABH Accreditation Standards.
The accreditation standard through various chapters covers following aspects of disaster
mitigation and management:
S.No Action NABH Chapter
4.1 Current disaster planning strategy FMS
4.2 Regular Testing and Evaluation of the Plan CQI
4.3 Resources and Assets ROM
Annexures – 7
Refers to Chapter 8

116
Hospital Safety
S.No Action NABH Chapter
4.4 Staff Responsibilities HRM
4.5 Patient and Clinical Support Activities AAC COP
4.6 Blood transfusion resources COP
4.7 Communication IMS
4.8 Transport availability COP
NABH Accreditation Standards and objective elements specifically related to aforementioned
topics are divided into two categories Standards specific to Disaster Management and
Associated standards for effective implementation of Disaster management plans and
strategy. They are as follows:
Standards Specific to Disaster Management:
NABH Standards and objective elements of Chapters namely Facility Management Safety
(FMS) and Continuous Quality Improvement (CQI) directly focuses on Emergency response
and management including disaster management and relevant indicators and their monitoring
to check the compliance to these standards on continuous basis.
The standards and objective elements ensuring the compliance to Current disaster planning
strategy and Regular Testing and Evaluation of the plan are as following:
The Associated Standards for Effective Implementation of Disaster Management Plans and
Strategy.
TheseStandardsarefromChaptersCareofPatient(COP),ResponsibilityofManagement(ROM),
Human Resource Management (HRM), Information Management System (IMS) etc.
Compliance to these standards ensures that essential requirements for Disaster mitigation and
managementlikeavailabilityofResourcesandassets,Stafftrainingsonrolesandresponsibilities
during emergency, availability of patient and clinical support activities, Transport Facility, Blood
transfusion facility and management and communication facilities required are available in
the HCO.
Standards also ensure that the organization timely and regularly tests the availability of these
resources for effective implementation when the disaster strikes.

117
Hospital Safety
References
NPDM 2009 – National Policy on Disaster Management , GOI , 2009
Indian Public Health Standards 2012 – Guidelines for District Hospitals ( 2012) - , DGHS,
MoHFW
Guidelines for Hospital Emergency Preparedness Planning, GOI –UNDP DRM Programme
– 2002-2008) – MHA
National Disaster Management Guidelines on Medical Preparedness and Mass Casualty
Management – 2007 – NDMA , GOI
CED 39, (2007), Draft Indian Standard Code for Seismic Retrofitting of Reinforced Concrete
Frame Buildings, under discussion in the Earthquake Engineering Sectional Committee,
Bureau of Indian Standards, New Delhi
FEMA 356, (2000), Pre-standard and Commentary for the Seismic Rehabilitation of
Buildings, Federal Emergency Management Authority, Washington DC, USA. This Pre-
standard serves as a tool for design professionals, code officials, and building owners
undertaking the seismic rehabilitation of existing buildings. The publication contains
two parts. The Provisions include technical requirements for seismic rehabilitation. The
Commentary explains the Provisions.
GHI-GHS-SR (2009), Reducing Earthquake Risk in Hospitals from Equipment, Contents,
Architectural Elements and Building Utility Systems, GHI, GHS and Swiss Re, 2009.
IITK-GSDMA, (2005), IITK-GSDMA Guidelines for Seismic Evaluation and Strengthening of
Buildings: Provisions with Commentary and Explanatory Examples, IITK-GSDMA-EQ06-
V4.0, August 2005, Indian Institute of Technology Kanpur and Gujarat State Disaster
Mitigation Authority
IITK-GSDMA, (2005), IITK-GSDMA Guidelines for Proposed Draft Code and Commentary
on Indian Seismic Code IS:1893 (Part 1), IITK-GSDMA-EQ05-V4.0, August 2005, Indian
Institute of Technology Kanpur and Gujarat State Disaster Mitigation Authority
IPHS,(2012), Indian Public Health Standards, Officeof DirectorGeneral of Health Services,
Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, Government of India, New Delhi

118
Hospital Safety
IS:456, (2000), Indian Standard Code for Plain and Reinforced Concrete, Bureau of Indian
Standards, New Delhi
IS:800, (2007), Indian Standard Code for Structural Steel, Bureau of Indian Standards,
New Delhi
IS:875,(1987), Indian StandardCodefor DesignLoads______,Bureau of Indian Standards,
New Delhi
IS:1893 (Part 1), (2002), Indian Standard Criteria for Earthquake Resistant Design of
Structures – General Provisions and Buildings, Bureau of Indian Standards, New Delhi
IS:13920-1993, Indian Standard Code of Practice for Ductile Detailing of Reinforced
Concrete Structures Subjected to Seismic Forces, Bureau of Indian Standards, New
Delhi
IS:13935, Indian Standard Guidelines for Seismic Evaluation, Repair and Strengthening
of Existing Masonry Buildings, Bureau of Indian Standards, New Delhi
IS:15988, Indian Standard Guidelines Seismic Evaluation and Strengthening of Existing
Reinforced Concrete Buildings, Bureau of Indian Standards, New Delhi
NBC, (2005), National Building Code, Bureau of Indian Standards, New Delhi
IS Codes on Materials I786, 2062,
IS:12433 (Part 1), Indian Standard Basic Requirements for Hospital Planning – Part 1 Up
to 30 Bedded Hospital, Bureau of Indian Standards, New Delhi
IS:12433 (Part 2), Indian Standard Basic Requirements for Hospital Planning – Part 2 Up
to 100 Bedded Hospital, Bureau of Indian Standards, New Delhi
When the criteria indicated in the above standards are less stringent than those specified
in this document, the requirements stated in this Guideline shall govern.

119
Hospital Safety
Significant Contributors
1. Prof CVR Murty, Director, IIT Jodhpur
2. Prof D. K Paul, Dept. Of Earthquake Engineering, IIT Roorkee
3. Dr.Shakti Gupta, Head, Department of Hospital Administration, AIIMS, New Delhi
4. Prof A. K Gupta, Medical Superintendent, PGIMER Chandigarh
5. Dr. Shamin, Director , National Fire Service College, Nagpur
6. Dr. A. K Shrivastava, Senior Policy Analyst, NIHFW, New Delhi
7. Shri G. Padmanabhan, Emergency Analyst - DRM, UNDP, India
8. Dr. Anish Bannerjee, Senior Emergency Physician, Kolkata
9. Dr. Tomorish Kole, Senior Emergency Physician, Max Hospital, New Delhi
10. Dr. Rubin Samuel, National Focal Point, WHO India
11. Dr. Zainab Zaidi, NABH Head-office , New Delhi
12. Shri Hari Kumar, Geo –Hazards India
13. Smt. Neelkamal Darbari, Former Joint Secretary (CBT Admn), NDMA
14. Smt. Naghma Firdaus, Senior Consultant – CBDM, NDMA

120
Hospital Safety
Core Group
(Jan 2012 - April 2014)
Core Group Members
1. Dr. Muzaffar Ahmad, Member, National Disaster Management Authority - Chairman
of the Core Group.
2. Dr. Jagdish Prasad, DGHS Govt of India, Ministry of Health and Family Welfare Nirman
Bhawan, C Wing, New Delhi.
3. Dr. P. Ravindran, Director Emergency Medical Relief (Directorate General of Health
Services) Nirman Bhawan, New Delhi.
4. Shri Chandershekher, Chief Architect, Ministry of Health Family Welfare, Govt. of
India, Nirman Bhawan, New Delhi - 110 108
5. Shri Rubin Samuel, National Focal Point-Emergency, WHO India Office, 537, A Wing,
Nirman Bhawan, Maulana Azad Road, New Delhi 110011
6. Ms. Margreita Tileva, Chief of Emergency, United Nations Children Fund, UNICEF,
73 Lodhi Estate, New Delhi -110 003
7. Dr. Roderico H. Ofrin, Regional Advisor, Emergency Humanitarian Action, World
Health Organisation, World Health House, Indraprastha Estate Mahatama Gandhi Marg,
New Delhi - 110 002
8. Dr.J.Radhakrishnan,AssistantCountryDirector,UNDP,73LodhiEstate,NewDelhi-110003
9. Prof. M.C. Misra, Chief of J.P. Trauma Centre, AIIMS, Ring Road, New Delhi - 110 029
10. Prof. C.V.R. Murty, Department of Civil Engineering, IIT Madras, Chennai-600036
11. Prof. Ravi Sinha, Department of Civil Engineering, IIT Mumbai, Powai, Mumbai - 400076
12. Dr. D.K. Paul, Department of Earthquake Engineering, IIT Roorkee,, Uttarakhand.
13. Mr. Hari Kumar, National Coordinator, Geo Hazards Society, New Delhi
14. CEO, HSCC (Hospital Service Consultancy Corporation Limited)

121
Hospital Safety 121
Core Group
15. DG, CPWD or Representative, CPWD-A-Wing, Room No-111, Nirman Bhawan, New
Delhi-110011
16. Dr. Shakti Gupta, Hospital Administration Department, AIIMS, New Delhi-110029
17. DG Armed Forces Medical Services, Ministry of Defence, M-Block, New Delhi-110001
18. Director Fire Services Welfare.
19. Director College of Fire Services, Nagpur.
20. Dr. V.K. Ramtake, DG, Medical Services, Ministry of Railways, Railway Bhawan, Rafi
Marg, New Delhi.
21. Director, Fire Services, Shankar Market, Cannuaght Place, New Delhi - 110001
22. Director College of Fire Services, Palm Road, Civil Lines, Nagpur-440001
23. Medical Superintendent, Ram Manohar Lohia Hospital, New Delhi
24. Dr. Subhash Solanki, Ex DG, Health, Maharashtra
25. Principal Secretary (Health)/DG, Health Services State of Maharashtra/Andhra Pradesh/
Chennai/West Bengal
26. Dr. R.K. Srivastava, Sr. Policy Analyst, National Institute of Health and Family Welfare,
New Delhi
27. Dr. Kavita Narayan, Associate Head, Hospital Services Unit, Public Health Foundation
of India, New Delhi
28. Dr. Girdhar J. Gyani, C.E.O. National Accreditation Board for Hospital and Healthcare
Providers, New Delhi
29. Dr. J.K. Das, Director, National Institute of Health and Family Welfare, New Delhi
30. Maj. Gen (Retd.) M.A. Naik
31. Lt Col. Manish Mehrotra, Classified Spl. Military Hospital, Shillong.
32. Medical Superintendent, E.S.I.C. New Delhi.
33. Joint Secretary, Indian Red Cross Society, New Delhi.
34. Medical Superintendent, Lok Nayak Jai Prakash Hospital New Delhi
35. Dr. Tamorish Kole, Max Super Specialty Hospital, West Wing. Saket, New Delhi
36. Dr.RamanSardana,AdditionalMedicalDirector,IndraprasthaApolloHospitals,NewDelhi
37. Medical Director, Fortis Escorts Heart Institute, New Delhi

122
Hospital Safety
38. Medical Director, Medanta – The Medicity Hospital, Gurgaon, Haryana
39. Medical Superintendent, BARC Hospital, Chembur, Mumbai.
40. Prof. Anil K. Gupta,Medical Superintendent,PostgraduateInstituteofMedical Education
and Research, Chandigarh.
41. Medical Director, Sir Ganga Ram Hospital, New Delhi
42. Medical Superintendent, Christian Medical College, Vellore
43. Medical Superintendent, Nizam's Institute of Medical Sciences, Hyderabad.
44. DG BIS

123
Hospital Safety
Core Group

Hospital Safety
124
Contact Us
For further information on Guidelines on Hospital Safety,
Please Contact:
Government of India
NDMA Bhawan,
A-1 Safdarjung Enclave,
New Delhi-110 029
Tel: +91-11-26701700
Web: www.ndma.gov.in

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